Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev on Saturday sought to reassure Russia that the oil pipeline being built from his country to Turkey won\'t undermine Russia\'s economy. The $3.6 billion pipeline from Baku to the Turkish port of Ceyhan bypasses Russia. \"We think bringing the pipeline on line won\'t have any negative consequences for our neighbors. On the contrary, it could even carry Russian oil,\" Aliev said at a news conference during an official visit. He also suggested that the pipeline running between the Azerbaijani capital Baku and the southern Russian port of Novorossiisk could carry Russian oil south rather than bringing Azerbaijani petroleum north. Russia has been urging Azerbaijan to increase its Caspian oil shipments through the Novorossiisk pipeline. On Friday, Russian Energy Minister Igor Yusufov said that the two nations were negotiating a new 15-year agreement on oil transit and that Russia had offered to reduce oil transit fees for Azerbaijani petroleum. Russia\'s pipeline network carried about 3 million tons of Azerbaijani oil last year, and the amount could be increased to 16.5 million tons, Yusufov said. Aliev said the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline could be operated \"more efficiently,\" meaning the volume of Azerbaijani oil pumped through could be increased. At the same time, he said, the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline had originally been planned in Soviet times to carry Russian crude to two high-capacity Azerbaijani refineries. \"This pipeline could be reversed,\" he said, quickly adding that \"of course, this isn\'t a question for today. Maybe it could be the subject of future negotiations.\" (AP)