Aging Oil Tankers May Provoke Ecological Disaster in Caspian Sea — Russian Expert
MosNews
Created: 18.07.2006 12:07 MSK (GMT +3),
A Russian environmental official warned Monday of potential ecological
disaster in the Caspian Sea if aging oil tankers are used to transport
crude from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan to be pumped through a U.S.-backed
pipeline that bypasses Russia, the Associated Press news agency
reported.
Oleg Mitvol, deputy chief of the Federal Service for Supervision of
Natural Resources, told reporters that small-capacity, single-hulled
tankers commonly in use on the sea were more likely to leak or spill
crude oil.
Western countries have pushed Kazakhstan to increase its oil exports
via the U.S.-backed pipeline that runs from Azerbaijan via Georgia
to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Mitvol said increased
shipments in the older ships would put the sea at greater risk.
"Oil deliveries by single-hull tankers pose a real threat to this
unique ecological region," he said at a news conference. "Why should
they worry about single-hulled oil tankers on, say, the Mediterranean
Sea, but not on the Caspian Sea? Why is the Caspian not worthy of
such protection?"
Kazakhstan, which possesses the largest oil deposits in the Caspian
Sea, currently exports most of its oil via Russia, but has been
seeking to establish alternative routes. Last month, it signed up
to pump its oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Talks to
build an extension of the pipeline under the Caspian, however, are
in their infancy, and in the meantime, Kazakhstan’s tiny fleet of
aging Soviet-era tankers is expected to increase crude shipments to
Azerbaijani oil terminals.
Russia strongly opposed the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and instead
pressed for Caspian oil to continue going through its network of
pipelines to the Black Sea.
Russia and the other four Caspian countries — Turkmenistan,
Azerbaijan, Iran and Kazakhstan — have been in tough talks for
years on dividing the sea and its resources, and there is no deal in
sight yet.