Pipeliners

07-31-2006 - by Denis Rebrov -Kommersant. [To see a map, move your mouse over the image]
TNK-BP is studying new routes for pipeline
Construction of the oil pipeline from Burgas, Bulgaria, to the Greek city of Alexandroupolis has come into question. TNK-BP, the coordinator of the project, is examining investment conditions for an alternative line in Turkey that would lead from Samsun to Ceyhan. The company says that the final choice has yet to be made, but it is economically feasible to build only one of the pipelines. The Turkish newspaper Sabah reported last week that TNK-BP board members told local authorities that they wanted a share in the operating company for the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline equal to the shares of the other investors, the Italian company Eni and the Turkish Calik Group. According to that newspaper, negotiations are already underway with Calik Group. TNK-BP declined to comment on that information, but reported that the company is considering various possibilities and has not yet rejected the construction of a Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline. "Oil production in Kazakhstan will grow and, naturally, the load on Russian tankers in the straits [the Bosporus and Dardanelles] will increase as well, naturally," a TNK-BP source explained. "As a result, Russian tankers will wait longer before entering the Mediterranean Sea. TNK-BP spokesmen said that the company was considering several pipeline routes and would possibly form a consortium with Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, which planned to participate in the Burgas-Alexandroupolis line. Those companies declined to comment on that information.
The idea of building a pipeline from Samsun to Ceyhan was first brought up in the early 1990s. That pipeline would stretch 550 km. and have a planned capacity of 50 million metric tons of oil per year, which could be raised to 70 million tons. The cost would be $1.5-2 billion. That is but one of ten routes being considered to bypass the Turkish straits. The Burgas-Alexandroupolis route has been under consideration for ten years. Russia, Bulgaria and Greece signed a memorandum on the implementation of that project in the spring of last year, however, there is still no technical plan for it. All that is known is that its capacity would be 35-50 million tons of oil per year and no agreements have been reached with the countries that pipeline would pass through on transit and pumping fees. The Turkish pipeline would offer the advantage of lower political risks, sine the pipeline would not cross any national borders.