bp halts pumping oil via Baku-Supsa pipeline

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

bp has halted pumping oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Supsa pipeline due to concerns about the safety of oil tankers in the Black Sea, Azernews reports.

The company called the shutdown of the Baku-Tbilisi-Supsa pipeline "temporary".

bp also confirmed that the pipeline had previously been shut down from March 15 until the end of April and then for the whole of May. The company did not report when or if it is expected to resume its work.

According to the data published in May by Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry, during the first four months of this year, the country produced 11.1 million tons of oil, 77 percent of which was produced by bp, and the rest by SOCAR.

The Baku-Supsa oil pipeline was put into operation in April 1999. The pipeline was built within the contract for the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields, its length is 837 km, and the diameter of the pipeline is 530 mm. The commissioning of the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline gave impetus to the development of the Azerbaijani and Georgian economies. The advantage of this route lies not only in the fact that Azeri Light began to enter the world market with lower transportation costs but also in strengthening the strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the energy sector.

The pipeline transports Azerbaijan's Azeri Light oil produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of oil and gas fields. In addition, the operator of the Baku-Supsa pipeline is the Azerbaijan International Operating Company.