BTC pipeline ships first oil from Ceyhan - historic moment

The Oil&Gas of Caspian Sea-2006 exhibition runs from June 6 to 8,in Baku, Azerbaijan and high powered delegations are expected Russia - LUKoils’ president Vagit Alekperov, Ukraine headed by Alexander Todeichuk, chairman of board of state enterprise Ukrtransnafta, Georgia by deputy minister of energy Isaak Novruzov., Kazakhstan, Iran, Poland by Polish National Oil and Gas Company representatives with two Vice-Presidents, Zenon Kukhchak and Stanislav Netbalech, Israel by Binyamin ben-Eliezer ,and the UK by Joann Knucknought, Director General, International energy security board, UK Trade and Industrial Department.

This happily coincides with (a surprisingly low key) BP loading the first Caspian crude on a tanker the British Hawthorn, (which sailed from the terminal today) in Turkey from the 1.100mile Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline. Filling the line, which transits Azerbaijan from the Sangachal terminal on the Caspian coast near Baku and then Georgia before crossing Turkey, began more than a year ago and required more than 10 million barrels of crude oil Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea and began in May 2005..

The pipeline is planned to move 1 million barrels per day of crude oil. The pipeline uses 46/42/34-inch diameter pipe, and has eight pump stations and 98 valve stations across the three transit countries. It crosses more than 1,500 rivers and climbs to a high point of 2,700 metres before returning to sea level at Ceyhan. A remarkable engineering acheivement which will transform the economic prospects of a very large region... and consolidate US insterest in the region denying exit of oil North top Russia or South through Iran. Pic shows a far seeing President Clinton with President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan at the White House in 1994.

The BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1 per cent, operator); AzBTC (25 per cent); Chevron (8.9 per cent); Statoil (8.71 per cent); Turkey’s TPAO (6.53 per cent); ENI (5 per cent); Total (5 per cent); Itochu (3.4 per cent); INPEX (2.5 per cent); ConocoPhillips (2.5 per cent) and Amerada Hess (2.36 per cent).

Very useful background here (2003)to BTC pipeline which was described as a "pipe dream" here from Ambassador Richard Morningstar, a former special advisor to President Clinton on Caspian energy issues who is currently a lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.