BP Expects End-June Sanction For Crude Line From Baku to Ceyhan
A $2.9-billion, 1-million-bbl-per-day oil export pipeline from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Ceyhan, Turkey, to carry Caspian crude to the Turkish Mediterranean via Georgia could begin construction early next year. A group of international oil companies studying the project is expected to sanction it by the end of June, David Woodward, associate president of BP Azerbaijan, said June 5. The report first appeared in Platts Oilgram News, a publication of the McGraw-Hill Cos., which also publishes ENR.
Platts also reported that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is negotiating to provide a $150-million syndicated loan to help finance the pipeline. Thomas Moser, EBRD's representative in Azerbaijan told Platts that he hopes the approval process for the loan will be completed by the end of 2002. Companies planning to build the pipeline are expected to seek loans to finance around 70% of the project.