Azernews.Az

Transporting Kazakh oil through a strategic pipeline which pumps Azerbaijan`s crude to world markets bypassing Russia has begun, Azerbaijani energy officials said.
The first shipment from the Tengiz field, a Caspian field that is one of the world`s largest, is a landmark step toward linking Central Asia`s energy resources to Western markets. The consignment entered the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline last week after being shipped across the Caspian Sea by ship.
Most of Kazakhstan`s oil is currently shipped via a pipeline that goes through Russia.
Kazakh oil is delivered to the Absheron Peninsula by tankers where it is pumped into the BTC pipeline, which travels to Turkey through Georgia, said Tamam Bayatly, the spokesperson for the pipeline operator, BP Azerbaijan. She did not elaborate on the volume of the shipments.
Under the agreement reached, up to 100,000 barrels of Kazakh oil a day will be transported via BTC to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Kazakhstan intends to transport about 20 million tons of its oil through the conduit annually.
The Azerbaijan Ministry of Industry and Energy said if the bulk of oil increases, new tankers with large loading capacity may be purchased and seaports constructed.
The BTC pipeline opened in mid-2005. The conduit`s full capacity is one million barrels per day (some 50 million tons a year). Oil pumped into the conduit is produced from the major Azeri-Chirag-Gunashi fields in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea.
The Caspian is estimated to hold the world`s third-largest reserves.