June 2, 2006, 9:43AM
Turkey Loads 1st Oil From Caspian Pipeline
By SELCAN HACAOGLU Associated Press Writer
ANKARA, Turkey Authorities at a Turkish Mediterranean oil port on
Friday loaded the first shipment of Caspian Sea oil from a newly built
pipeline onto a tanker for Western markets.
The shipment from Ceyhan, a Turkish port on the Mediterranean Sea,
marks a crucial step in completing a project designed to create
alternative oil routes to ease the West’s dependence on Middle East
crude. The pipeline starts in Baku, Azerbaijan, runs through Tbilisi,
Georgia, and then travels southwest through Turkey to Ceyhan.
Although it included oil from the Caspian pipeline, the bulk of the
shipment was already stored at Ceyhan after having been brought in by
tanker to test new storage tanks at the site several months ago, oil
officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were
not authorized to speak to the media.
The loading of some 600,000 barrels of Caspian crude onto The British
Hawtharne began at 4:17 p.m. and was expected to take at least 12
hours. The shipment was destined for the northwestern Italian port of
Savona, officials said.
The recently completed 1,100-mile pipeline, conceived in the mid-1990s
and launched in 2002, is intended to tie the oil-rich newly
independent former Soviet nations to the West and reduce the influence
of Russia and Iran. U.S. officials insisted that the pipeline be built
through Turkey, bypassing the Middle East and Russia. The project cost
some $4 billion.
The Caspian Sea fields are estimated to hold the world’s third-largest
reserves, bypassing Russia and Iran.
Ceyhan is also the end point of a pipeline running from neighboring
Iraq, and Turkey built a new terminal and storage tanks to ship Azeri
oil.
At Ceyhan, the new oil terminal is expected to begin pumping 1 million
barrels of crude per day when fully operational.
Friday’s shipment is largely considered a technical exercise. A formal
launching ceremony to be attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey is scheduled for July 13.
The Caspian’s reserves are shared by Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan,
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
However, hopes that Caspian oil could be an alternative source to
Middle Eastern oil have so far proven unrealistic. Analysts say the
Middle East still provides 50 percent of global oil supplies.
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Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.