TODAY.AZ / Business

Russia warms up to BTC project

21 August 2006 [11:34] - TODAY.AZ
Azerbaijani Ministry of Industry and Energy Natik Aliyev stated that Russian oil companies are interested in participating in the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) oil pipeline project.

Aliyev did not name any specific Russian companies, but the suggestion is that the companies are looking to load their own extracted crude into the pipeline. Technical capacity limits, however, may preclude the introduction of more oil to the BTC.

In earlier stages of the project, Azerbaijan feared it would not have enough oil to make full use of the pipeline, but that no longer looks to be the case.

In 2006, Azerbaijan will extract 30 million tonnes of crude, and is expecting that figure to increase to 47 million in 2007 and surpass 50 million tonnes by 2008, according to Khvalindeli Dghe. The pipeline's overall capacity is capped at 1.8 million barrels a day (90 million tonnes per year), and a deal has recently been inked to pump Kazakhstani oil through the pipeline as well as Azerbaijani, putting the BTC at close to full capacity.

Georgian observers, however, do not rule out that Russian companies could get a piece of the BTC pie. Gia Khukhashvili, speaking with Rezonansi, suggested that Western companies involved in the BP-led project may give concessions to Russian oil companies. He thinks that Moscow is on a counterattack to regain a measure of lost control over the energy system in the region.

Initially opposed to the BTC project, ostensibly for its high price and the dangers of instability in the Caucasus, Moscow has now found itself sidelined after the successful inauguration of the pipeline. In reaction to the Kremlin's recent efforts to gain a toehold in the new energy corridor, Georgian analysts assert that Russian energy policy is tailored to pursue political interests far more than economic ones.

/www.messenger.com.ge/

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/29199.html

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