ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received on Thursday the COE of BP Lord John Browne and the accompanying delegation.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler was also present in the meeting.
Issuing a written statement on the issue, Prime Ministry Press Centre said that the meeting was held in a friendly and warm atmosphere.
Erdogan expressed the pleasure over BP's carrying out Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Project, which was an important project for Turkey. Erdogan told the BP delegation that Turkey expected natural gas to arrive in Erzurum province for the first time in 2006, adding that Turkey would be very pleased if that date could be taken to an earlier one.
Both sides also discussed inclusion of other regional countries to the project, and they exchanged views about the activities and projects carried out by BP. Prime Minister Erdogan also got information about the searching activities started in the Black Sea basin.
COE of BP Browne said in his part that Ceyhan would be an important energy terminal when Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project was completed, adding that the burden and threat on the straits due to tanker traffic would end significantly.
Browne noted that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project was a model project in ecological, security and humanitarian aspects. Prime Minister Erdogan particularly stressed that the project's decreasing the pressure on the straits was particularly important.
(ÖS-BRC) 29.05.2003