The Vital Oil Pipelines That Cross a War Zone
By Lindsay McIntosh
WHILE the black spectre of oil, omnipresent in modern international conflicts, lurks in the Georgia-Russia war, its true importance is as yet unclear.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which carries oil from the Caspian to Mediterranean Sea, runs through Georgia. The world’s second longest pipeline, it connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, a distance of 1,099 miles. The route is seen as safe by the West and vexes Russia as it diverts oil control from Moscow.
There were reports early yesterday that the line had been hit by bombs, but BP, the largest member of the consortium which controls it, denied this.
The facility is currently out of action because it was shut down by a fire in Turkey last Wednesday. The blaze was only extinguished yesterday morning and workers are having to wait for the area to cool before ascertaining whether it was intentionally targeted, and how to get it operating again.
The pipeline is capable of carrying about 1.5 per cent of the world’s oil supply, and concerns about its security might be expected to lead to a spike in the oil price.
Matthew Clements, a military analyst and Eurasia editor for journal Jane’s Defence, said: “The pipeline is partly owned by BP and supplies up to a million barrels of crude oil per day into Europe. If damaged it could have a knock-on effect and result in some disruption to the European oil market.
“The fighting has put further strain on Russia’s relationship with the West and marks a potentially serious downturn.”
Meanwhile, despite these fears, the price of oil dropped to dollars 113.89 a barrel at close of play yesterday, a fall of 1.14 per cent.
Nick McGregor, an oil and gas analyst with Redmayne Bentley, said: “I think [the pipeline] matters but I don’t think it matters that much. It has been attacked plenty of times before.”
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