12 October 2005 -- The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey today inaugurated the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.
The ceremony was attended by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
The BTC pipeline is aimed at exporting oil from the Caspian Sea oil fields, believed to hold the world's third-largest oil reserves, to the West. Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan are all Caspian Sea littoral states with claims to the region's resources.
The U.S.-backed, $4 billion pipeline is scheduled to start pumping Caspian oil from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey for export to western countries by the end of this year.
(AP/ITAR-TASS/Caucasus Press)
See also:
Analysts Expect Security, Economic Gains From BTC Pipeline
Is The BTC Oil Pipeline Saving Europe From Russia Or From OPEC?
The BTC pipeline is aimed at exporting oil from the Caspian Sea oil fields, believed to hold the world's third-largest oil reserves, to the West. Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan are all Caspian Sea littoral states with claims to the region's resources.
The U.S.-backed, $4 billion pipeline is scheduled to start pumping Caspian oil from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey for export to western countries by the end of this year.
(AP/ITAR-TASS/Caucasus Press)
See also:
Analysts Expect Security, Economic Gains From BTC Pipeline
Is The BTC Oil Pipeline Saving Europe From Russia Or From OPEC?