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| | GEO World | | BP shuts oil pipeline in Georgia, supplies still get through | Updated at: 0526 PST, Wednesday, August 13, 2008
LONDON: British energy giant BP announced Tuesday it had closed an oil pipeline because of fighting in Georgia but said oil and gas supplies continued to flow from the Caspian Sea to the West by other routes.
A BP spokesman confirmed the company had shut the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline in Georgia as a precaution, but said oil was still being transported to the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi by train and through an Azeri-operated pipeline.
In terms of gas, BP corrected its earlier statement that supplies had been completely suspended through the South Caucasus pipeline, a major link which snakes from Baku in Azerbaijan into Georgia and to the Turkish border.
In fact, the spokesman told media, although gas was no longer being pumped into the pipeline, the high pressure inside meant supplies were still flowing through to Turkey.
"There is still some oil production from the Caspian and it is being exported through two other routes. One is a rail link from Baku to Batumi," the spokesman said.
"And the other link one is another pipeline known as the Northern Route and that is operated by the Azerbaijan national company Socar from Baku to Novorossisk." Novorossisk is the main Russian port on the Black Sea. |  |
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