BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24. The results of assessment of the quality of the crude oil across all the facilities along the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline have confirmed that the crude oil is on specification at all the facilities along the pipeline up to the Ceyhan terminal, bp Azerbaijan told Trend.
“BTC Co was made aware of a potential quality issue related to organic chlorides in some BTC blend loadings. Following this, BTC Co undertook an extensive assessment of the quality of the crude oil across all the facilities along the pipeline. BTC Co. has completed the assessment of the quality of the crude oil across all the facilities along the pipeline. The results have confirmed that the crude oil is on specification at all the facilities along the pipeline up to the Ceyhan terminal,” said the company.
Reportedly, at the Ceyhan terminal, the assessment of the tanks has also been completed.
“The results have identified the presence of organic chlorides in some of the tanks. Respective actions have been taken to contain those tanks with plans being put in place to fully resolve the issue and investigate the situation. Currently, loadings at the Ceyhan terminal continue from the tanks that have been assessed to be within normal specifications. Export activities via the BTC pipeline also continue.”
In the meantime, bp Azerbaijan noted that BTC Co will continue to take samples prior to each loading at the Ceyhan terminal to assure that the crude of each cargo meets normal specifications.
Earlier, some media outlets reported that oil supplied through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was contaminated with fuel containing organic chlorides, which are used to enhance crude production. According to reports, BP Plc and the Italian company Eni raised these concerns.
According to Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, since the commissioning of the BTC pipeline until July 1 this year, total exports of Azerbaijani oil via the pipeline have amounted to 612.2 million tonnes.
Currently, the pipeline mainly transports oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field block and condensate from Shah Deniz. In addition, it continues to carry oil and condensate volumes from other Caspian regions, including Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as additional volumes produced by SOCAR in Azerbaijan.
The shareholders of BTC Co. 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%).