| South Caucasus Pipeline | |
|---|---|
 Map of South Caucasus Pipeline |
|
| Country/Province | Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey |
| Operator | BP, StatoilHydro |
| Partners | BP, StatoilHydro, SOCAR, Lukoil, Total S.A., Naftiran Intertrade Co., TPAO |
| Length | 692 kilometres (430 mi) |
| Maximum discharge | 20 billion cubic meters per year |
| General direction | east–west |
| From | Baku (Sangachal Terminal), Azerbaijan |
| Passes through | Tbilisi |
| To | Erzurum, Turkey |
| Established | 2006 |
| Runs Alongside | Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline |
South Caucasus Pipeline (also: Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipeline, BTE pipeline or Shah-Deniz Pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Turkey. It runs parallel to the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline.
Contents |
History
On 21 May 2006, the commissioning gas was pumped to the pipeline from the Sangachal Terminal.[1] First deliveries of gas started around 15 December 2006.[2]
On 12 August 2008, the pipeline operator BP closed the pipeline for the safety reasons because of the South Ossetia conflict.[3] Gas supplies were resumed on 14 August 2008.[4]
Description
The 42 inches (1,070 mm) diameter gas pipeline runs in the same corridor as the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline. It is 692 kilometres (430 mi) long, of which 442 kilometres (275 mi) is laid in Azerbaijan and 248 kilometres (154 mi) in Georgia.[1] The initial capacity of the pipeline is 8.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year, and after 2012 its capacity could be expanded to 20 bcm per year.[5] The pipeline has a potential of being connected to Turkmen and Kazakh producers through the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.
Economic impact
The first aim of pipeline is to supply Turkey and Georgia. As a transit country, Georgia has rights to take 5 % of the annual gas flow through the pipeline in lieu of tariff and can purchase a further 0.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year at a discounted price. In longer perspective South Caucasus Pipeline will supply Europe with Caspian natural gas through the planned Nabucco, Turkey–Greece and Greece–Italy pipelines.
Project company
The pipeline is owned by the South Caucasus Pipeline Company, a consortium led by BP and StatoilHydro. The shareholders of the consortium are:
- BP (UK) 25.5%
- StatoilHydro (Norway) 25.5%
- State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) (Azerbaijan) 10%
- Lukoil (Russia) 10%
- Total S.A. (France) 10%
- Naftiran Intertrade Co. (Iran) 10%
- Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) (Turkey) 9%
The technical operator of pipeline is BP and commercial operator is StatoilHydro.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ a b BP (2006-06-01). "SCP Commissioning Commences". Press release. http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9006615&contentId=7018471. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ "Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Field On Stream". OilVoice. 2006-12-15. http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Azerbaijans_Shah_Deniz_Field_On_Stream/6f7f7be8.aspx. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
- ^ "BP shuts in Georgia links". Upstream Today. 2008-08-12. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article160951.ece. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ "BP turns on Georgia gas taps". Upstream Today. 2008-08-14. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article161060.ece. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
- ^ "Shah Deniz taps primed". Upstream Online. 2006-09-14. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article119108.ece. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
References
- International Energy Agency: Caspian oil and gas: The supply potential of Central Asia and Transcaucasia. OECD, Paris 1998, ISBN 92-64-16095-7
- Charles van der Leeuw: Oil and gas in the Caucasus & Caspian: A history. Curzon, Richmond, Surrey 2000, ISBN 0-7007-1123-6
- John Roberts: Caspian oil and gas: How far have we come and where are we going? In: Oil, transition and security in Central Asia. RoutledgeCurzon, London [u.a.] 2003, ISBN 0-415-31090-3
External links
- BP's South Caucasus Pipeline website
- Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan / South Caucasus pipelines environmental and community investments website
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