- X-AFP) -- The first section of an oil pipeline that will
pump crude from the Caspian Sea to Turkey's Mediterranean coast was laid
into the ground at a ceremony that marked the start of construction work
on the US-backed project.
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- The 2.95-billion-dollar (3.05-billion-euro) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline poses a serious challenge to Russia's stranglehold on export
routes from the oil-rich Caspian, which holds the world's third largest
energy reserves.
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- The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey -- Heidar
Aliyev, Eduard Shevardnadze and Ahmet Necdet Sezer -- and US Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham watched as a length of steel pipe was lowered into the
ground during the ceremony held near Azerbaijan's capital Baku.
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- "The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will take
shape from this moment on," Aliyev said at the ceremony at the Sangachal
terminal which will be the starting point for the pipeline once it is completed
in 2005.
-
- "Without this pipeline the resources of the Caspian
Sea would have remained undeveloped and unavailable to world markets,"
Abraham said, signalling President George W. Bush's strong support for
the project.
-
- "The BTC pipeline is a central component in an east-west
energy corridor which will bring far-reaching benefits to the countries
of this region and to the rest of the world," Abraham said.
-
- The Caspian Sea holds the world's third-largest reserves
of oil and gas but two of the three existing oil export pipelines go through
Russian territory -- a situation Washington believes is harmful for global
energy security.
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- The BTC pipeline will pump up to one million barrels
of crude a day along the 1,750 kilometres (more than 1,000 miles) from
Azerbaijan, through neighbouring Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean port
of Ceyhan.
-
- That is roughly the same distance as from New York to
Miami or from London to southern Spain and much of the pipeline route is
through rugged mountains, presenting a tough challenge for engineers.
-
- The project was first proposed eight years ago but it
has been delayed by political wrangling and arguments about its commercial
viability. Until recently there were doubts that it would ever be built.
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- Many oil industry insiders criticised the project for
being driven by political considerations instead of economic realities.
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- The pipeline was chosen ahead of two alternative routes
for exporting Caspian oil, via Iran or Russia. Both would have been shorter
and cheaper but were not politically acceptable to Washington.
-
- Moscow has wanted nothing to do with the BTC project
and officials there have repeatedly said it does not make economic sense.
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- Georgian officials claimed this week that Russia's dislike
for the pipeline was the real reason behind threats by Moscow to launch
bombing raids into northern Georgia in pursuit of Islamic rebels there.
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- But the pipeline received an boost Wednesday with the
announcement that Japanese energy firm Inpex is to take a 2.5-percent stake
in the project. Inpex is a shareholder in Kazakhstan's massive Kashagan
field, raising hopes the BTC pipeline will be used to export Kazakh oil
as well as the crude from Azeri fields that has already been committed
to it.
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- For Azerbaijan, an impoverished former Soviet republic,
the BTC pipeline means desperately needed revenues from the sale of its
oil. Georgia's state budget will also benefit from transit fees.
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- The pipeline is being financed and built by an international
consortium led by oil major BP and also comprising Azeri state oil company
SOCAR, Statoil, Unocal, TPAO, Eni Agip, Total Fina Elf, Itochu and Amerada
Hess.
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