Brushing aside concerns over economic robustness and potential environmental and social impact, BP last autumn broke ground on its controversial US2.95 billion plans to build a 1760km-long pipeline to export Casipan crude from Baku via Tbilisi to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast (AOG November/December 2002). Physical construction of the BTC line, which according to some analysts' calculations will need to transport as much as 8 billion barrels of oil to reach profitability, is at last underway following the delivery of the first 240 joints of pipe to Baku on 22 January.
展开▼
