Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

As many as 373.8 million tons of Azerbaijani oil was transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) since its commissioning in June 2006 until December 1, 2018, Report informs.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline has been established to ensure access to crude oil produced in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea under the "Contract of the Century".

As of November 2018, 2.2 million tons of Azerbaijani oil were transported via BTC.

The length of the pipeline is 1,768 km, 443 km runs through Azerbaijan, 249 km - through Georgia and 1,076 km - through Turkey. Daily transport capacity of the pipeline is 1.2 million barrels.

The crude oil delivery to the first tanker at the Ceyhan terminal took place in the summer of 2006.

The first delivery of approximately 600,000 barrels of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) crude oil, transported through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, was loaded on the British Hawthorn tanker on June 4, 2006 and dispatched from the new Ceyhan Offshore Terminal. Being a strategic project, it is the first direct link between the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean.

During the three quarters of 2018, more than 25 million tons (about 189 million barrels) were exported through the BTC.

During the first half of 2018, BTC's operating costs totaled about $ 61 million, and substantial costs made about $ 13 million.

BTC Co. shareholders are BP (30.1 percent); SOCAR (25 percent); Chevron (8.9 percent); Equinor (8.71 percent); TPAO (6.53 percent); ENI (5 percent); Total (5 percent), ITOCHU (3.4 percent); INPEX (2.5 percent), Exon Mobile (2.5 percent), ONGC (2.36 percent).

This pipeline, which is considered to be the main artery of energy export in the region, has played an important role in the extraction of the Caspian Sea's rich energy resources and bringing them to the world markets.

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