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Even before its completion, the pipeline was already foreshadowing its future effect on the balance of the world's oil politics . Moscow first insisted that any pipeline pass through Russian-controlled territory, then affirmed that they saw no economic advantage to Russian participation. Iran and Russia moved closer together, Russia aiding Iran's nuclear program, as both became increasingly concerned about Azerbaijan's and Georgia's willingness to cooperate closely with NATO. A decision to move forward with the pipeline was reached at the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Istanbul on November 18, 1999. A second action at the OSCE meeting, an "intergovernmental declaration of intent" to construct a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Baku to transport gas to Turkey, evaporated Russian hopes of becoming an essential energy supplier to Turkey.
The pipeline was commissioned from the Anglo-American energy giant BP, in cooperation with a number of smaller oil companies. Construction began in September 2002. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2005, and a similar, BP-led project to deliver natural gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey, is slated to finish in 2006.
At 1760km long, the pipeline route crosses Azerbaijan and skirts Armenia to pass through Georgia and Turkey, making it the longest oil pipeline in the world. The pipeline will include 8 pumping stations, 2 intermediate pigging stations and 87 block valve stations, and it will be buried for its entire length, making it less vulnerable to sabotageDisambiguation This article is about Sabotage the destructive action. The term sabotage can also refer to: an early Black Sabbath album ( Sabotage), a Alfred Hitchcock film ( Sabotage), a Beastie Boys song, or a type of shock site. Sabotage is a deliberat. The pipeline is 42" wide for most of its length, narrowing to 36" wide as it nears Ceyhan.
The pipeline has a projected lifespan of 50 years, and when working at normal capacity, will transport 1 million barrels of oil per day.
Funding for the pipeline is largely through the World BankThe International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages BIRD), better known as the World Bank is an international organization created to fight poverty by means of financing states. Its operation is maintained through payment’s International Finance Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentThe European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was founded in 1991 to promote private and entrepreneurial initiatives in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The countries of operation.
Resistance to the pipeline is partly based on ecological issues, a sensitive area for all the extraction industries. Attention focussed on BorjomiBorjomi is a town and a resort in Kartli province of Eastern Georgia. It is situated in the western part of that province. The town is famous for its mineral waters industry. Borjomi mineral water is famous in the countries, which were part of USSR, and t national park, an area of mineral water springs and outstanding natural beauty in Georgia. The park's bisection by the BTC pipeline has long been the subject of fierce opposition by environmental activists. Since the pipeline is buried, constructing it leaves a highly visible scar across the landscape. The Oxford-based "Baku Ceyhan Campaign" averred that "public money should not be used to subsidise social and environmental problems, purely in the interests of the private sector, but must be conditional on a positive contribution to the economic and social development of people in the region." The organizers were joined by the Kurdish Human Rights Project though the pipeline does not pass through Kurdish areas.
The influence of oil on politics has not ever historically favored transparent democracies, even in the United States. The transfer of power in Azerbaijan upon the retirement of former president Heydar AliyevHeydar Alirza oglu Aliyev Heydr lirza oglu liyev in Azerbaijani) (sometimes transliterated as Geidar Aliev from the Russian ) ( May 10, 1923? December 12, 2003) was president of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party from June 1993 to October 2003, when, to his son IlhamIlham Aliyev Became President October 31, 2003 Predecessor Heydar Aliyev Date of Birth December 24, 1961 Place of Birth Baku Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev ( Azerbaijani: Ilham Heydr oglu liyev (born December 24, 1961) is the president of Azerbaijan for the New, was effected through the medium of an October 2003 election tainted by charges of widespread fraud. The Aliyev patronage structure is solidly behind the pipeline: the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is headed by Natiq Aliyev, uncle of Ilham AliyevIlham Aliyev Became President October 31, 2003 Predecessor Heydar Aliyev Date of Birth December 24, 1961 Place of Birth Baku Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev ( Azerbaijani: Ilham Heydr oglu liyev (born December 24, 1961) is the president of Azerbaijan for the New. In Georgia, president Eduard ShevardnadzeEduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze ( Georgian: , Russian: ; pronounced ad-oo-ard am-vro-say-vikh she-vad-nad-zuh (born 25 January 1928) is a Georgian politician. He served under Mikhail Gorbachev as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union from's resignation was followed by a January 2004 election that returned Mikhail SaakashviliMikhail Saakashvili ( Georgian: ) (born December 21, 1967), Georgian jurist and politician, is the President of Georgia. Saakashvili's given name is also used in the Georgian form Mikheil (he is commonly known as "Misha"). It is also transliterated Mixeil, the opposition leader, who fervently embraced the project for the international press November 26, 2003: "All strategic contracts in Georgia, especially the contract for the Caspian pipeline, are a matter of survival for the Georgian state," he told reporters.
To counter these objections, Azerbaijan has set up a State Oil Fund, expressly mandated with using natural-resource revenue to benefit future generations, to bolster support from key international lenders.