BTC pipeline celebrates first oil
31 May 2005
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was officially opened on May 25 with Presidential ceremony.
On May 25, 2005 the start of operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was marked in Baku with great ceremony. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey inaugurated the Azerbaijani section of the pipeline at the BTC head pump station in the Sangachal Terminal near Baku. The presidents were joined by state officials, senior executives of the BTC owner companies and business representatives.
A total of 10 million barrels of crude oil is required to fill the 1770 kilometer pipeline running from Azerbaijan via Georgia to the Ceyhan Terminal on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The filling of the pipeline along its entire route could take over six months. The oil will reach the Georgian border sometime in June. BP (British Petroleum) says the loading of the first tanker at Ceyhan is expected in the fourths quarter of 2005.
Civil society continues to press for change
CEE Bankwatch Network has reported on continued problems with the pipeline that have gone unaddressed:
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