The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline has achieved a significant milestone by carrying 500 million tonnes of oil in total from the Sangachal terminal near Baku across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to Ceyhan, according to BP.
The milestone was achieved on 12 December when the 500 millionth tonne of Caspian crude flowed through the pipeline, was loaded on the 4922nd tanker named Nordorse, which was a joint SOCAR lifting, and departed for Trieste (Italy).
Gary Jones, bp’s regional president for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: "The 500 million tonnes of oil export is a remarkable milestone that winds up 15 years of steady and efficient operations of BTC. After so many years the pipeline continues to be the major artery of energy export in the region."
Since the start of operations, BTC has demonstrated exceptional efficiency. To date BTC has had strong safety and operational performance. Its efficiency and operational reliability has increased from 75% at the start up to the current level of 99.9%.
