BTC oil pipeline fire extinguished
A fire on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline in Turkey was extinguished on Monday, a senior source at BP, a major shareholder in the pipeline, told Reuters.
Repairs may not be finished for one to two weeks or longer, according to sources at Turkey's state-owned pipeline company Botas.
World oil prices rose last week after the announcement of the blaze, and estimates that it could take up to two weeks to get the pipeline on stream again.
“Today we put the fire out, and immediately after that we started trying to cool down the pipeline. As soon as the cooling process ends, we will begin assessing the damage and start repairs,” he said.
The pipeline normally carries Azeri oil which is high quality and commands a premium. The $4 billion BTC pipeline can pump up to a million barrels per day, the equivalent of more than 1 percent of world supply, from fields in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
The biggest hindrance to firefighting efforts was oil that settled in the pipeline since the flow was stopped last Tuesday.
Technical teams sent to the site of the fire will assess the damage and the BTC consortium will decide how to proceed.
One repair method put forth by the teams could take two weeks or longer, pushing back original estimates for a date to get the pipeline back on line.
BP owns 30.1% of BTC, while Azeri state oil company Socar holds 25%. Other shareholders include US companies Chevron and ConocoPhillips, Norway's StatoilHydro, Italy's ENI and France's Total.
Kurdish separatists claimed responsibility for the explosion and said they would carry out more attacks on economic targets inside Turkey. Military and local official sources said the fire was due to a technical error and was not due to sabotage. (Reuters)
ADVERTISEMENT
MNB Sees Broadening Disinflationary Impact Till Year-end
Viktor Orbán Meets Marine Le Pen
SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
