First oil into the Heydar Aliyev BTC main export pipeline inaugurated
Posted: 30 May 2005
Filling the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline with crude oil between Azerbaijan and Turkey’s Mediterranean coast has started.
The Azerbaijan section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline was inaugurated by the Pr esidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey on May 25 at the BTC head pump station in the Sangachal Terminal near Baku . This event marks the official celebration of first oil into the Heydar Aliyev BTC main export pipeline.
The 1770-km BTC pipeline will allow one million barrels of oil a day to be exported safely and responsibly from the Caspian without increasing tanker traffic through the Turkish Straits. It is buried for its entire length and following construction land is being fully re-instated.
 Ten million barrels of crude are needed to fill the 1,770-kilometre line, which runs from the Sangachal terminal on the Caspian via Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
This oil derives from the first development phase of the huge Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian, where Statoil has an 8.6 per cent holding.
The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Kazakhstan attended a ceremony at Sangachal to celebrate the introduction of the first ACG crude to the new line.
Natig Aliyev, Pr esident of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), said: “Today’s event marks the beginning of the long journey Azerbaijan’s oil will take through three countries to world markets benefiting the people of the three countries on its route. We are putting first oil into the pipeline with a sense of pride that we take in Azerbaijan ’s leading role in the realization of one of the world’s longest and, we believe, safest pipelines. The event also marks the realization of the dream of the people of Azerbaijan and our national leader Heydar Aliyev to realize a pipeline that would bridge the nations of the region and enable Azerbaijan to regain its important role in regional and international economic developments. I wish to congratulate all the citizens of Azerbaijan and all our partners who contributed to the fulfillment of this dream.”
David Woodward, BP Azerbaijan Associate Pr esident, said: “This is a great moment as it marks Azerbaijan ’s rebirth as an important country for the industry just as it was more than a century ago. It is also a symbol of what can be achieved through cooperation - between different countries, nation states and national companies and international business. None of us could have done this on our own. Ten years ago many people said that this was an impossible project. Thanks to many people the impossible was made possible.
Norway was represented by deputy petroleum and energy minister Oluf Ulseth, while Peter Mellbye, executive vice president for International Exploration & Production, headed the Statoil delegation.
“ACG will account for a substantial proportion of our international production,” Mr Mellbye observes. “And BTC makes it possible to transport crude safely and efficiently from the Caspian region to market.”
Filling the line will be a staged process, with the first oil due to take more than six months to reach Ceyhan. Once this process has been completed, crude can travel from Sangachal to the Mediterranean in a week and a half.
Plans call for the first oil cargo to be lifted from Ceyhan towards the end of 2005.
The BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1%); AzBTC (25.00%); Unocal (8.90%); Statoil (8.71%); TPAO (6.53%); Eni (5.00%); Total (5.00%), Itochu (3.40%); INPEX (2.50%), ConocoPhillips (2.50%) and Amerada Hess (2.36%).
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
Information supplied by companies
or PR agencies who are responsible for content. Send press releases
to info@pipelinedubai.com |
