280 million tons of Azeri oil reaches Mediterranean

The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline carried 280 million tons of crude oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey between 2006 and 2014, according to a BP report.

BP announced on Thursday that 2.1 billion barrels of crude oil, approximately 280 million tons, was carried to Turkey’s Ceyhan via the BTC pipeline between 2006 to 2014.

The BTC pipeline is a 1,768-kilometer-long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The pipeline is one of the fully operational pipelines in the politically insecure region, which carries crude oil to the Mediterranean coast. The other pipeline in the region, the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline, has been out of service for years because of increased terrorist attacks on the Iraqi side of the pipeline.

Turkey aspires to become an energy hub in the region, which carries its oil-rich neighbors’ energy exports to its energy-hungry western neighbors. The BTC is an important asset in Turkey’s pipeline portfolio.

Over the eight year period, oil exports reached the markets through the delivery of 2,793 oil cargoes via Ceyhan.

In 2014 alone, the amount of crude oil exports reached 262 million barrels, around 34.8 tons.

The BTC pipeline became operational in June 2006. The main shareholders are BP at 30.1 percent, SOCAR with 25 percent, Chevron with 8.9 percent, Statoil at 8.71 percent and Turkish Petroleum with 6.53 percent.

http://www.turkishmaritime.com.tr/280-million-tons-of-azeri-oil-reaches-mediterranean-21723h.htm