The oil pipeline that will save the west?

[S'13]

By Lada Yevgrashina
BAKU (*******) - Oil started to flow into a U.S.-backed pipeline on Wednesday which will carry Caspian oil to the West and loosen Russia's stranglehold on exports from the region.

The pipeline, built by a multi-national consortium led by British-oil giant BP, will eventually pump more than 1 million barrels a day from Azerbaijan along a circuitous route through Georgia to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey.

The venture is helping to redraw the geopolitical map of the turbulent Caucasus, reducing the region's economic reliance on Moscow, and will also give emerging oil giant Kazakhstan an outlet to Western markets that bypasses Russia.

Oil experts say the land-locked Caspian Sea contains oil riches to rival those of the North Sea but others say it may never fulfil its promise.

"With the start-up of this oil pipeline, the economy of Azerbaijan makes a serious step forward," said President Ilham Aliyev at a launching ceremony for the pipeline.

Also attending the ceremony were President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, all of whose countries stand to gain handsomely from the new pipeline.

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, who stood alongside the four heads of state at the ceremony, said: "The Baku-Ceyhan pipeline will play a huge role in world energy policy."

It will take until the autumn before oil can be loaded into tankers at the Mediterranean end in Ceyhan because BP needs several months to fill up the 1,760 KM (1,100 mile) pipeline.

Kazakhstan, the largest oil producer in the region after Russia, is likely to start pumping oil through the pipeline at a later date by shipping it from its Caspian port of Aktau to Baku by tankers.

For the rest of the article:
http://www.*******.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=*******Edge&storyID=8602266&pageNumber=1

[fdt]

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48021

[S'13]

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48021

Oops, missed that :)

[Meph]

Conservatively there are only around 1 trillian barrells of oil left to be extracted from this planet and as a planet we consume a billion barells every 11.5 days.


Think about that.

[Abolith]

Conservatively there are only around 1 trillian barrells of oil left to be extracted from this planet and as a planet we consume a billion barells every 11.5 days.


Think about that.


and every time someone says that we find a new oil field.

[soma]

Or just start killing old people now and see if they turn into oil in a few decades.

[vryhpyammoadded]

Conservatively there are only around 1 trillian barrells of oil left to be extracted from this planet and as a planet we consume a billion barells every 11.5 days.
Think about that.

Yay, we’re doomed!
Save the planet, LEAVE!

[bluffcove]

IM CRAP AT MATHS, can someone tell me how many more days that gives us?

[Migman]

That's all good and well but the pipeline is sitting on a powder keg. There's a little slither of land in that area called Nagorno Karabakh. It's been disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan for well over a decade and the latter is just itching to take it by force. Any war that breaks out over NK will mean the destruction of a significant part of the pipeline as it runs through an area of Georgia populated by very well-armed ethnic Armenians. And I'm not talking AK-47s and RPG-7s. I mean M-46 130mm towed arty, T-55s, BMP-1s, etc. Just some food for thought.

[M4ko]

One pipeline cant contribute enough oil to the west. Plus this line probably wont last long; it crosses 3 countries and as mentioned above in a disputed area and its a pretty long line, any instability in the region will cuase problems with oil transfer.

[Kontra1]

That's all good and well but the pipeline is sitting on a powder keg. There's a little slither of land in that area called Nagorno Karabakh. It's been disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan for well over a decade and the latter is just itching to take it by force. Any war that breaks out over NK will mean the destruction of a significant part of the pipeline as it runs through an area of Georgia populated by very well-armed ethnic Armenians. And I'm not talking AK-47s and RPG-7s. I mean M-46 130mm towed arty, T-55s, BMP-1s, etc. Just some food for thought.


Pipeline snakes pretty much off the disputed area.Besides, there are talks going on betwen these two contries and they're pretty close to some kind of positive agreement.

Other alternate route would be via Iran... :lol:


Kontra1

[wholagun]

Conservatively there are only around 1 trillian barrells of oil left to be extracted from this planet and as a planet we consume a billion barells every 11.5 days.


Think about that.

no one really knows how much oil there is on the planet, scientists can only estimate number of barrels from known oil fields and pockets, but think about the ocean bed think how much oil there must be under the sea

[Javehn]

That's all good and well but the pipeline is sitting on a powder keg. There's a little slither of land in that area called Nagorno Karabakh. It's been disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan for well over a decade and the latter is just itching to take it by force. Any war that breaks out over NK will mean the destruction of a significant part of the pipeline as it runs through an area of Georgia populated by very well-armed ethnic Armenians. And I'm not talking AK-47s and RPG-7s. I mean M-46 130mm towed arty, T-55s, BMP-1s, etc. Just some food for thought.


I am not shure what map you are looking , but Nagorniy (more correct way to say) Karabah would be on opposite direction for the pipeline . Plus , it is not the only major pipeline running from Baku , and until now they were smart enough not to pass it deliberatly in the middle of disputed area :lol: .

[Rifleman]

World consumption is 82m barrels a day. A trillion is a thousand billion, figuring the increasing demand(up to 120mbpd), about 30-40 years (assuming no new finds)years worth. When all the oil is gone you will still have other fossil fuels such as tar, gas, shale, et cetera.

Do you really think that in 40 years the oil companies are going to say; "Well, all the oil is gone, let's close up shop cause"? Remember who the father of invention is?

[Clearday-TRForce]

http://www.btc.com.tr/images/hat.jpg




Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan ceremony tomorrow
Tuesday, May 24, 2005


Turkey's giant oil pipeline awaits first shipment

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline, a huge project that envisages transporting Caspian and Kazakh oil to global markets, is about to be realized.

Tomorrow is the big day for the BTC project. Presidents and the political elite will convene to mark the occasion of the first oil filling, which took place on May 6. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Energy Minister Hilmi Güler and officials from the Foreign Affairs Ministry will be on hand for a ceremony in Azerbaijan.

The function of the project is to transport oil from the Caspian Sea region to global markets. The pipeline ends at the port of Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, thereby reducing reliance on shipping through the dangerously crowded Turkish straits. The first international transfer of oil to global markets is expected to take place in the last quarter of 2005.

The Caspian oil will be shipped to Europe and the United States via oil tankers.

About 1,076 kilometers of the pipeline is in Turkish territory, 440 kilometers in Azerbaijan and 260 kilometers in Georgia.

The pipeline can carry a million barrels of oil per day and up to 50 million cubic meters yearly.

Participating companies, comprising the BTC Consortium, and their ownership share are as follows: BP, 30.1 percent; SOCAR, 25 percent; Unocal, 8.90 percent; Statoil, 8.71 percent; Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), 6.53 percent; Eni, 5 percent; Itochu, 3.40 percent; INPEX, 2.50 percent; ConocoPhillips, 2.5 percent; and Amerada Hess, 2.36 percent. Total project cost was approximately $2.9 billion; 70 percent was financed by international credit and the rest by the participating companies.

The BTC Consortium filled a pumping station with oil on May 6 for the first filling in the pipeline. The entire pipeline (1776 kilometers long) will be filled gradually over six months.


regards. (this thread has already been opened - http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48021)

[Clearday-TRForce]

US State Dept. Pleased with BTC Oil Pipeline Opening

AP


The official opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Oil Pipeline has pleased the US Department of State.

A State Department statement says the US has supported this historic project for a long time since it is the "center of the East-West energy corridor".

The four-billion dollar pipeline will transfer a million barrels of crude from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey where it will be shipped to world markets from the port of Ceyhan in southern Turkey.

The US statement reads that the BTC pipeline will strengthen sovereignty and prosperity in Azerbaijan and Georgia and will help these countries to become more integrated with the international free market economy.

regards.

[Migman]

I am not shure what map you are looking , but Nagorniy (more correct way to say) Karabah would be on opposite direction for the pipeline . Plus , it is not the only major pipeline running from Baku , and until now they were smart enough not to pass it deliberatly in the middle of disputed area :lol: .

I'm well aware where NK is in relation to the pipeline. I was referring to the Javakh region of Georgia, which the pipeline does run through.