Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline to Be Inaugurated July 13 in Ceyhan

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline will be formally inaugurated on 13 July at Ceyhan, a Mediterranean port city in southern Türkiye. The ceremony is expected to draw heads of state from 15 countries, including U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, along with energy and foreign ministers from roughly 50 nations. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will host a dinner at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace on 12 July for arriving dignitaries.

Stretching 1,760 km, the pipeline carries Caspian crude from Azerbaijan's Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field through Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. It ranks as the world's second-longest oil pipeline. Construction began in September 2002, and the first Azerbaijani oil reached Ceyhan on 28 May 2006.

BP leads the operating consortium with a 30.1 percent share, followed by Azerbaijan's SOCAR at 25 percent and several other international partners. The line can move 1 million barrels per day.

Once fully operational, roughly 8 percent of global commercial oil will transit Türkiye, generating an estimated annual revenue of nearly 300 million USD for the country. Kazakhstan also agreed on 16 June to join the project.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.