BTC, operated by BP, today announced the lifting of the 100 millionth barrel of crude oil at the Ceyhan Terminal in Turkey. The milestone marks a major step in BTC’s progress to maximum capacity.
Exports via the pipeline are running ahead of expectations and remain on target to achieve one million barrels per day (approximately 50 million tonnes per year) in late 2008.
The 100 millionth barrel was loaded onto the Seaprince which was the 130th tanker lifted to date from Ceyhan and destined for Italy.
“This is a significant milestone as BTC steadily moves towards what it is meant to be – a one-million barrel per day export pipeline from the Caspian to world markets. With 750,000 barrel peak daily throughput achieved in March we are making confident progress towards that goal. I would like to extend my congratulations and thanks to everyone whose efforts have been key to making these successes happen“, says Rashid Javanshir, BTC’s Chief Executive Officer and BP’s Vice–President, Onshore Operations.
Following the final commissioning of BTC pump stations and conversion of all pumps in Azerbaijan and Georgia from diesel fuel to gas turbines in March, BTC is now capable of exporting its design capacity of one million barrels of oil per day.
While the pipeline initially carried only Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil, deliveries of Shah Deniz condensate into the line have been ongoing since the start of Shah Deniz production earlier this year. It is expected that future volumes will include those from across the Caspian.
The BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1%, operator); AzBTC (25.00%); Chevron (8.90%); Statoil (8.71%); TPAO (6.53%); ENI (5.00%); Total (5.00%), Itochu (3.40%); INPEX (2.50%), ConocoPhillips (2.50%) and Hess (2.36%).
Photos available.
Notes to Editors: BTC lifted the first tanker at Ceyhan on June 4, 2006. This marked the start of export of Azerbaijan’s oil via the BTC oil pipeline to world markets, bypassing the Turkish Straits. The official inauguration of the 1,076 kilometer- long Turkish section of the pipeline, the Ceyhan Terminal and the full BTC system took place on July 13, 2006.
The 1768km BTC pipeline will allow one million barrels of oil a day to be exported safely and responsibly from the Caspian without increasing tanker traffic through the already crowded Turkish Straits.
The pipeline uses 46/42/34” diameter pipe. It has eight pump stations and 98 valve stations across the three transit countries. The pipeline crosses more than 1500 rivers and climbs to a high point of 2,800 metres before returning to sea level at Ceyhan.
BTC is a world-class project, which is expected to make a positive difference by bringing significant benefits to the region. By avoiding the Turkish Straits, it will help relieve the inevitable growth in oil related traffic and associated environmental risks, while creating substantial revenues for the transit countries, and will help strengthen economic and political links between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and the West.
Tamam Bayatly at BP’s Press Office in Baku, telephone: 994 (0) 12 599 4557