BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 5. Discussions are underway with the relevant authorities to ensure timely planning of the necessary steps for the transfer of operatorship of the Baku–Supsa and Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipelines, bp Azerbaijan told Trend.
As the company noted, under the relevant pipeline management agreements, the operatorship of oil and gas export pipelines is to be transferred to the respective governments or state bodies within the timeframes stipulated in those agreements.
“It was on the basis of these agreements that, in 2021, operatorship of the South Caucasus Pipeline was transferred to SOCAR both in Azerbaijan and in Georgia.
In line with the same agreements, the transfer of operatorship of the Baku–Supsa and Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipelines to the respective authorities in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye is also envisaged within the previously agreed timeframes. Discussions are currently being held with the relevant authorities to ensure timely planning of the necessary activities in this regard,” bp Azerbaijan said.
Baku-Supsa, or the Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP) transports crude oil from offshore oil fields in the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, from where the crude is further shipped via tankers through the Bosporus to European markets.
The pipeline begins at the Sangachal terminal near Baku and travels through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Supsa terminal on the Georgian coast of the Black Sea.
The WREP has been in operation since February 1999. In April 17, 1999 the Supsa terminal was inaugurated.
In 2024, the Sangachal terminal exported around 1 million barrels through the Western Route Export Pipeline.
Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline carries oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field and condensate from Shah Deniz across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye. It links Sangachal terminal on the shores of the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan marine terminal on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. In addition, crude oil from Turkmenistan continues to be transported via the pipeline. Starting in October 2013, it resumed transportation of some volumes of Tengiz crude oil from Kazakhstan through the BTC pipeline.
The pipeline that became operational in June 2006 was built by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline company (BTC Co) operated by bp.
BTC Co. shareholders are: bp (30.10%), SOCAR (32.97%), MOL (8.90%), TPAO (6.53%), Eni (5.00%), TotalEnergies (5.00%), ITOCHU (3.40%), ONGC Videsh (3.10%), ExxonMobil (2.50%) and INPEX (2.50%).