Gas supply via BTE pipeline resumed

3 September 2015 10:01 (UTC+04:00)

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By Aynur Karimova

The supply of natural gas via the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been resumed.

This remark was made by Tamam Bayatli, the head of the press service of BP Azerbaijan. She told local Azerbaijani media that the operations on production and export of gas are proceeding in the ordinary course.

On August 25 an explosion damaged a section of the BTE pipeline in the Sarikamis region of Turkey’s Kars province, and as a result, gas supply through the pipeline was suspended.

Local Turkish media reported that the explosion was arranged by PKK.

This was not the first case of this pipeline's explosion. The same section of the pipeline was blasted on August 4 as well.

From Baku up to Georgia’s border with Turkey, the BTE’s technical operator is BP, and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is its commercial operator. The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, also called the South Caucasus Pipeline, is necessary for exporting Azerbaijan’s gas from the Shah Deniz field. The pipeline starts at a terminal near Baku, going through Georgia, and ends in the Turkish city of Erzurum, where there is a gas distribution hub.

Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova