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Caspian Hydrocarbons Flow through the Corridor
// Right past Russia
Ceremony
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the Presidents of Turkey, Georgia and Kazakhstan on Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan oil pipeline. Russia did not take part in the festivities.
Aliyev, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer signed a declaration opening the Kars – Akhalkalaki – Tbilisi – Baku oil corridor. The agreement foresees the construction of a 98- kilometer rail line between Akhalkalaki, Georgia, and Kars, Turkey, 68 km. of which will run through Georgia and 30 km. through Turkey. The preliminary cost is set at $400-450 million. The rail line transport up to 3 million metric tons of oil that now flows throw Azerbaijan from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to the Black Sea ports in Georgia. During the course of the ceremony, the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, the Energy Minister of Turkey and the U.S. Energy Secretary signed the declaration, which effectively connects Kazakhstan to the Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan project.
The 1770-kilometer pipeline bears the name of the late Azerbaijani president Heidar Aliyev, father of the current president, who said that the capacity of pipeline will be 1 million barrels of oil per day. Aliyev gave high praise to the role the U.S. government and the British company BP played in the project. “Without the support of the U.S., this project could not have been carried out. We feel their support in all energy projects. We are partners and we approach all world processes from the same position,” he said, also calling BP an integral part of Azerbaijan.
U.S. President George W. Bush sent a congratulatory letter to the participants in the ceremony, which was read by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. “Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan opens a new era in the development of the Caspian Basin. The project will allow Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to take part in the world economy,” Bodman read in the name of the U.S. president.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev stated that Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan is one of the most important paths for oil from his country to reach world markets. He said that, last year, Kazakhstan produced 60 million tons of oil, and that figure will be 100 million by 2010. That forces the country to create an energy corridor with its neighbors, Nazarbaev said.
Saakashvili said that the Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan pipeline will allow a new level of development “after the collapse of the great empire.” He noted in particular that he wants to have protected sources of hydrocarbons and stable export. “That corridor is important for the diversification of our access to world markets and to eliminate Western countries' dependence on the Middle East,” he said.
“Economic growth and stability are impossible without increase oil exports. Demand for oil will grow by 60 percent by 2030. We will try to turn the port of Ceyhan into a center of energy export and trading,” the Turkish said. He spoke of the importance of developing and exporting oil and gas from the Shakh Deniz field and said that Turkey is already thinking about Turkey – Bulgaria – Romania – Austria and Turkey – Greece – Italy lines. He said that the demand for gas will grow by 70 percent by 2030, which will make Turkey one of the world's main gas suppliers, along with Russia, Norway and Algeria.
Yusuf Osmanov, Baku
All the Article in Russian as of May 26, 2005
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