Turkmen oil transportation via BTC surges
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline transported about 1.4 million tons of Turkmen oil in January-May 2012 compared to 1 million tons in the same period of 2011, according to official figures.
``During the reporting period BTC transported 1.384.7 million tons of Turkmen oil from the Sangachal Terminal, delivered to the country by tankers,`` the State Statistics Committee told Trend news agency on Monday.
The BP-operated pipeline, which runs from the Azerbaijani capital through Georgia to Turkey, transported 2.1 million tons of Turkmen oil in 2011 compared to 1.3 million tons in 2010.
The oil is transported under the contracts signed by Azerbaijan`s state energy firm Socar and Dragon Oil producing oil in Turkmenistan. Oil transportation via the BTC began in July 2010.
Socar Trading, a Socar subsidiary, buys and transports oil from producers in Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea to the BTC entrance flange at the Sangachal Terminal in Baku. The BTC Co. then transports the oil via the BTC to Socar Trading in the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey.
The BTC`s pumping capacity is 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.
The 1,768 km conduit transports oil produced from Azerbaijan`s Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil block in the Caspian Sea. The pipeline allows to export oil from the Caspian region without increasing tanker traffic through the crowded Turkish Straits.
BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1 percent), AzBTC (25 percent), Chevron (8.9 percent), Statoil (8.71 percent), ТРАО (6.53 percent), Eni (5 percent), Total (5 percent), Itochu (3.4 percent), Inpex (2.5 percent), ConocoPhillips (2.5 percent), and Amerada Hess (2.36 percent).