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BP blame Turkish builders for delay on BTC |
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British oil giant BP announced on Wednesday that the launch of commercial operations on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline have now been put back until mid-2006 due to delays on the Turkish side. BP's Azerbaijan representative, David Woodward blamed builders of the Ankara-managed segment of the 1,7770 km pipeline for being late on their end.
Woodward also said that the total expenditure on the line in 2005 had cost $73 billion more than projected, total costs now reaching $1.3 billion.
The pipeline is set to carry caspian oil to western markets without having to go through Russia. It was originally planned to open in the fourth quarter of 2005, but is now looking more like mid-2006, said Woodward.
Major shareholders in the BTC pipeline include BP with 30.1 percent, the Azerbaijani state (25%), Unocal (8.9%) and Statoil (8.7%). |
