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Oil crosses the Azerbaijan-Georgian border via BTC

Release date:
5 August 2005

 

BP, as operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil export pipeline, is pleased to announce that yesterday, August 10, the first barrels of oil flowing through the line reached the Azerbaijan-Georgian border and entered the Georgian section. This follows the filling of the Azerbaijan section of the pipeline with about 2.3 million barrels of oil. The oil has now been received at the Georgia Pump Station 1 near Gardabani.

 

David Woodward, BP Azerbaijan Associate President, said: “This is a significant day for both Azerbaijan and Georgia, for the investors in the BTC pipeline and for BP, as operator of the pipeline. It is a day, which marks the excellent progress that has been made in Azerbaijan with its 443 km pipeline section already filled with Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil. It also marks the first tangible results the Georgian section of the pipeline has achieved, and is a result of the good co-operation between the Governments of Azerbaijan and Georgia and private investors.”

 

A total of 10 million barrels of crude oil is required to fill the 1768 km long line running from the Sangachal Terminal near Baku via Georgia to the Ceyhan Terminal on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The oil comes from the ACG field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The staged filling of the pipeline along its entire route takes over six months and the loading of the first tanker at Ceyhan is expected before the end of the year.

 

The line fill commenced from the Head Pump station at the Sangachal terminal near Baku in early May. The official celebration of First Oil into the pipeline was held in Baku on May 25th and a similar event marking First Oil into the Pipeline in Georgia is planned to be held in Tbilisi on October 12th 2005.

 

 

Further information:

BP Press Office, Baku: +994 12 599 45 57