Oil Tanker Traffic In Straits Increases By 50 Percent, Guler Says

ANKARA - Turkish Energy & Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said on Monday that oil tanker traffic in Turkish straits (Istanbul & Canakkale straits) had increased by 50 percent in three years.
Taking the floor in ''Caspian-Black Sea Oil and Gas Conference'' held in Turkish capital of Ankara, Guler said that new pipeline routes were obligatory to protect the environment and to prevent occurrence of problems in transportation of oil to the markets.
Guler noted that Turkey was the most feasible route for transportation of oil and natural gas resources of the Caspian basin.
Underlining importance of strategic cooperation among regional countries, Guler said that Turkey was a candidate for becoming an energy corridor and had undertaken many giant projects to this end.
Guler stated that Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude oil pipeline would become operational soon, while Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline would start operating in 2006.
Natural gas would also be transported to Europe via Greece and Bulgaria, Guler added.