Turkey: Implications of a Blast on the BTC Pipeline
August 6, 2008 | 1842 GMT
Worker at Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline terminal in Turkey
Yoray Liberman/Getty Images
Workers at the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline terminal in Turkey
Summary
An explosion occurred late Aug. 5 on the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. There are a number of actors with the motive to carry out such an attack, if it was an attack.
Analysis
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An explosion occurred on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline in eastern Turkey late Aug. 5. Turkish energy officials say it will take at least 24 hours for the fire engulfing the pipeline to extinguish. Until then, it remains unclear what the extent of the damage is and how long it would take to bring the pipeline back online.
The BTC pipeline pumps one million barrels per day (bpd) of Caspian crude to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea for export to the Western market. Despite the blast, exports are reportedly continuing from the Ceyhan port terminal, where storage facilities can hold 7.5 million barrels of oil (enough to fill seven large tankers). BP and its partners have also reassured the public that crude production is continuing at Azerbaijan’s offshore fields, for stockpiling until the pipeline is repaired....