BP, the majority shareholder in the BTC pipeline consortium, closed the pipeline Aug. 5 because of a fire at a pumping station in eastern Turkey. Conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia further jeopardized the BTC pipeline and its offshoots.

BP representative Taman Bayatli noted it would take roughly a week to fill downstream tanks at the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but normal operations would resume Tuesday, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

"We ramped up the flow over the weekend, and we're still ramping now, but effectively we're back to normal operations," said Bayatli.

Transportation through the 520-mile Baku-Supsa oil pipeline through Georgia remained stalled as a preventative measure because of the conflict in the region.

Meanwhile, Georgian officials accused Russia of targeting civilian infrastructure following a 10-tanker fire that erupted when a train carrying oil exports hit a land mine.

Kazakhstan may explore alternative oil export routes.
Oil officials in Kazakhstan said the conflict in the Caucasus prompted consideration of alternative export routes around the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route.

"We could reconsider our decisions on sending Kazakh oil to the world market. Changing the (export) route is in our agenda now," said a Kazakh oil official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Oil from the Kazakh Kashagan field on its western Caspian coast is seen as a key source for plans to expand the BTC line, the second longest in the world. But officials there are looking at an alternative 450-mile Eskene-Kuryk in southwest Kazakhstan to transport their oil, the Turkish business daily Referans said.

If oil from the Kashagan field were to move through the BTC line, oil moving through the 1,100-mile pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan would increase 50 percent to 525 million barrels of crude per year.

Odessa-Brody flow could disrupt Russian oil supplies.
A decision by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to direct flow through the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline could impact several Russian projects, research suggests.

Yushchenko last week backed a measure to move oil through Odessa-Brody in its intended direction. The pipeline for Kazakhstan oil deliveries to Europe through Georgia and Ukraine had been operating in the reverse direction, Brody-Odessa, since 2005.

The measure means crude from Odessa on the Black Sea to western Ukraine will move to European markets by the end of 2009. Oil from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will supply the pipeline, Oil & Gas Eurasia reported.

Russian plans to move exports through the East-Siberian-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline and a second stage through the BTS-2 Baltic pipeline may be limited by the decision, the report said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in July intervened to block a move by state officials to use the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline to supply European energy markets, prompting Yushchenko to accuse his premier of treason.

Burgas-Alexandroupolis construction slated for 2009.
Construction on the 173-mile Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline across Bulgaria and Greece will begin in June 2009, Bulgarian officials said.

Stefan Gunchev, chairman of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline consortium and Bulgarian development minister, said the Bulgarian and Russian partners agreed to the timeline during an early June meeting.

Gunchev said representatives from top Russian and Bulgarian energy firms representing the pipeline would pick a construction and exploration firm in the coming months, the Sofia News Agency reported.

It will take around six months for initial explorations to yield any clear results, but construction would proceed as that work moved forward, the minister said.

Bulgarian citizens have expressed concerns over the environmental impact of the pipeline meant to transport Russian natural resources from the Black Sea.

Residents in the port cities of Burgas and Sozopol voted against the pipeline earlier this year.

Related Links
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News