South Caucasus Pipeline

South Caucasus Pipeline
Location of South Caucasus Pipeline Location of South Caucasus Pipeline
Location
Country	Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey
General direction	east–west
From	Baku (Sangachal Terminal), Azerbaijan
Passes through	Tbilisi
To	Erzurum, Turkey
Runs alongside	Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline
General information
Type	natural gas
Partners	BP, Statoil, SOCAR, Lukoil, Total S.A., Naftiran Intertrade Co., TPAO
Operator	BP, Statoil
Commissioned	2006
Technical information
Length	692 km (Bad rounding here mi)
Maximum discharge	20 billion cubic meters per year

South Caucasus Pipeline (also known as: Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum Pipeline, BTE pipeline, or Shah Deniz Pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline 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.

History

On 21 May 2006, the commissioning gas was pumped to the pipeline from the Sangachal Terminal. First deliveries through the pipeline commenced on 30 September 2006. Deliveries of gas from Shah Deniz gas field started on 15 December 2006.

On 12 August 2008, the pipeline operator BP closed the pipeline for the safety reasons because of the South Ossetia conflict. Gas supplies were resumed on 14 August 2008.

Description

The 42-inch (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. The initial capacity of the pipeline is 8.8 billion cubic metres (310 billion cubic feet) of gas per year, and after 2012 its capacity could be expanded to 20 billion cubic metres (710 billion cubic feet) per year. 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 (18 billion cubic feet) of gas a year at a discounted price. In longer perspective South Caucasus Pipeline will supply Europe with Caspian natural gas through the planned Southern Gas Corridor pipelines, such as Nabucco Pipeline, Turkey–Greece pipeline and Greece–Italy pipeline.

Project company

The pipeline is owned by the South Caucasus Pipeline Company, a consortium led by BP and Statoil. The shareholders of the consortium are:

• BP (UK) 25.5%
• Statoil (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 Statoil.

See also

• Nabucco Pipeline
• Shah Deniz gas field
• Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline
• Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline

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
• Articles about the Southern gas corridor and the energy issue of the South Caucasus in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 3