Kazakhstan, Astana / corr Trend K.Konirova / The commercial viability of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is based on oil extracted from the Azeri-Charaq-Gunashli oil fields and the possible absence of oil from other countries will not affect the economic constituent of the project, a senior official representative of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) said.
Representatives from several foreign companies said at a conference held in Kazakhstan last week that Kazakh oil can be diversified to China instead of the BTC.
"Extra capacity will appear in the BTC for a definite period. It will increase the commercial viability of the pipeline. It is perfect if the pipeline is in demand, for instance, by Kazakh cargo deliverers, but if not the BTC is an all-sufficient project," the SOCAR official said.
The capacity of the BTC pipeline is 50mln tons of oil a year. It can be boosted to 65mln tons a year, by building additional pump stations and chemical reagents.
SOCAR is a shareholder in the BTC project operated by BP.