A solemn ceremony on the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline was held in the Turkish port of Ceyhan, with the discharge capacity of 50 million tons of oil and technical fulfillment of 10 million barrels. BTC pipeline is designed for pumping of oil produced in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields of Azerbaijan. The budget of the pipeline is approximately $4bn.
BTC pipeline lies beyond the Turkish strait of Bosporus, where a regular tanker queue stands, while the companies lose considerable money due to big expenses. Oil running via the BTC immediately falls into the Ceyhan port in the Mediterranean Sea
BTC project enabled create a unity among the countries partaking in it, as well as oil companies and international financial institutions. All social problems in Azerbaijan might get solved through oil projects implementation. В"Azerbaijan is becoming a very important oil exporting countryВ", he indicated.
President said BTC had given traction to regional development. В"Completion of this project is a new stage of development. This is not only economical, technical and political project, although it faced problems in all these spheres. BTC now is not a regional but a global project. Other countries may use this corridorВ", he promised
Georgia called the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan The project of century. It is not only political or economical project, it is of great importance for Georgia. The regional cooperation will assist in resolving many problems in the region, especially connected with the security. This project will help the development of the infrastructure of the country and serve closer interaction in the region.
Turkey states that the BTC will become a corridor of friendship between the countries and nations of the region. Turkish Prime Minister Rejep Tayyub Erdogan, emphasized that the oil pipeline assumes paramount importance both for the entire region and world, taking into consideration its possible use in condition of uninterrupted and safe exploitation, contacts between the producers and consumers The Turkish PM said that the implementation of the BTC will decrease the burden of the Turkish straits Bosporus and Dardanelle.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is a bold step in the development of the Caspian resources. The commissioning of the BTC is remarkable event for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and the world market, says a letter sent by the U.S. President George Bush addressed to the solemn opening ceremony of the BTC. The letter was read out by the U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary, Klay Cell.
The key objective of the project and its significance is exit to the world energy market.
We appreciate the project. It will play a considerable role in the international cooperation. The people of the United States believes that that project will be carried out successfully, the letter by the US leader underlined.