International oil companies developing Caspian oilfields off Azerbaijan say they've again put off a meeting to make a final recommendation on a main export pipeline route.

Speaking at an oil conference in London, Charles Pitman, Chairman of Amoco Eurasia, said that both the international companies and Azerbaijan's state oil company, SOCAR, had decided that more time was needed.

The decision is now expected in early December.

It's the second time that the Azeri consortium has delayed an announcement on oil export pipelines, amid lobbying from Turkey and the United States in support of a controversial route through Turkey.