Oil pumping into Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan restored

Oil pumping into the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which was temporarily suspended due to an oil leak in its Turkish section near the city of Erzurum, has been fully restored, BP reported today.

Earlier Botas Company requested to stop pumping oil to eliminate the leakage from the pipeline. Repair work has been launched.

"Oil pumping into the pipeline has been restored and now it operates at full capacity," BP said.

The suspension of oil pumping has not impacted on the company's operations. Oil production continues from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli bloc in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Oil is sent to the Sangachal oil terminal near Baku. Oil shipments from Ceyhan are also underway. The suspension of oil pumping has not impacted other transportation routes.

As of Dec. 1, Ceyhan had shipped 1.064 million barrels of oil since its commissioning on June 2, 2006, compared to 1.04 million barrels as of Nov. 1.

The BTC's total length is 1.768 kilometers, including a 443-kilometer section running via Azerbaijan, a 249-kilometer section passing via Georgia and a 1.076-kilometer traversing Turkey. Construction of the pipeline began in April 2003. The pipeline filled with oil on May 18, 2005.

About $4 billion were spent on construction. Filling the pipeline, financial expenses and bank interest payments have not been included in this sum. Financial credit amounts to $2.6 billion.

BTC Co. shareholders include: BP (30.1%); AzBTC (25%); Chevron (8.90%); Statoil (8.71%); ÒÐÀÎ (6.53%); Eni (5%); Total (5%); Itochu (3.40%); Inpex (2.50%); ConocoPhillips (2.50%); and Amerada Hess (2.36%).


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