Azerbaijan boosts natural gas transportation via main pipelines
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan increased by 11.1 percent the volume of gas transported through its main gas pipelines during the period of January-August 2020, local media reported with reference to the State Statistics Committee.
The country transported 19.8 billion cubic meters of gas during the reporting period.
Some 40.1 percent or 7.9 billion cubic meters from the total volume was transported through South Caucasus pipeline, which is by 21 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.
Additionally, 23.9 million tons of oil was transported by the main oil pipelines during the reporting period.
Likewise, 79.7 percent or 19 million tons of oil were transported through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which is by 10.5 percent less compared to the same period of 2019.
Opened in 2006, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is a transport line for Azerbaijani oil from the Caspian Sea to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey, and then to European markets via the Mediterranean Sea.
The total length of the pipeline is 1,768 km, of which 443 km pass through the territory of Azerbaijan; 249 km to Georgia; 1076 km to Turkey. The projected capacity is 50 million tons of oil per year or one million barrels per day.
Currently, oil from Azeri-Chirag-Guneshlu block of fields, condensate from Shah Deniz field, as well as SOCAR oil is transported via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
The Baku- Tbilisi- Ceyhan pipeline shareholders are: BP (30.1 percent); AzBTC (25 percent); MOL (8.9 percent); Equinor (8.71 percent); TPAO (6.53 percent); Eni (5 per cent); Total (5 percent), ITOCHU (3.4 percent); INPEX (2.5 percent), ExxonMobil (2.5 percent) and ONGC (BTC) Limited (2.36 percent).
The South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) was built to export Shah Deniz gas from Azerbaijan to Georgia and Turkey. The pipeline starts from the Sangachal terminal near Baku. It follows the route of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey, where it is linked to the Turkish gas distribution system.
The pipeline has been operational since late 2006 transporting gas to Azerbaijan and Georgia, and starting from July 2007 to Turkey from Shah Deniz Stage 1.
The 42-inch (1,070 mm) diameter gas pipeline runs through the same corridor as the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline until Erzurum, where BTC turns south to the Mediterranean.
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