Energy Giant BP has turned the taps back on, for the South Caucasus pipeline in Georgia, after it was shut for two days as a precautionary measure during the conflict between Georgian and Russian troops. Meanwhile the Baku-Supsa oil line remains shut until further evaluation, according to a BP spokesman.
As of Thursday gas was flowing back through the pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan through to the Turkish border, passing just west of Tbilisi the Georgian capital.
Despite its temporary closure, high pressure inside the pipeline, otherwise known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) link, meant that gas flow would have still met targets for this week. The impact of the fighting in Georgia would not have been felt, in terms of supply, by any of BP’s customers. “There was very little disruption,” said a BP spokesman.
However, the Baku-Supsa pipeline closure only helped to further compound BP’s limited export options from the land-locked Caspian Sea after a fire damaged its key Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) link to Turkey last week.
A senior source from Turkish energy company Botas said that repair work had began on Thursday but declined to estimate how long it would take until it would reopen.
The BTC line, the world’s second longest pipeline at 1,109 miles in length, carries oil to western industrialized markets via the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The line is capable of transporting 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. The importance of port access is therefore paramount and just this week gave cause for concern to U.S. president George Bush.
On Wednesday President Bush spoke of his unease over the reliability of supply routes following reports that Russian forces were blocking access to the port of Poti, situated 15 kilometers north of Supsa, and attacking Georgian vessels.
Analysts have played down the impact of the two pipeline suspensions, arguing that operations would likely resume quickly after Moscow's order to halt its military offensive in Georgia.
Although Georgia is not an oil producer, the conflict with Russia has sent shock waves through the energy markers because of the geographical significance of Georgia as a key transit point for crude oil and gas exports to the energy-hungry West.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), based in Paris, warned earlier this week that fighting in Georgia threatened the strategic energy hub.
In its monthly reported, published on Tuesday, the IEA skeptically stated that: "Recent escalation in military engagement between Russia and Georgia poses a threat to certain key oil and gas pipelines which transit Georgia."
They also added in notes to clients on Wednesday that: “While the conflict in Georgia may have been the main source of attention, for us the most significant supply event was the attack on the BTC line in Turkey and the implication that it may continue to be a target.”