We engage regularly with the communities near our pipelines because we want to maintain constructive relationships with them.

Liaising with local communities

bp seeks to maintain positive relationship with the communities along its pipelines. Our liaison objectives and communication tools are described in a community communication plan. 

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), South Caucasus pipeline (SCP) and Western Route Export Pipelines (WREP) are categorized according to their social and environmental sensitivities to enable us to have the appropriate type and level of interaction with them.

Meetings with local community representatives take place regularly. We continued local community engagement and conducted more than 1000 consultation meetings with different target groups in the villages along the pipelines and near our facilities.

This ensures that the bp social team is well-aware of local issues, listens to community concerns, and can reinforce messages about safety and restrictions along the pipelines.

Our target groups are village heads/trustees, local residents, complainants and landowners. We also developed a community calendar that provides information to local communities and landowners about pipeline protection safety zones, and on simple ways to protect the environment.

Our team of community liaison officers play an important role by listening to community concerns and responding to them, by sharing concerns with project staff and giving guidance on local sensitivities.

Responding to grievances

Our activities take place near a large number of villages and municipalities and involve access to and construction work on land. Occasionally, community grievances arise. As part of our approach to engagement, we have a clear process for managing third-party complaints.