Pipeliners

31 March 2008 - Upstream staff - The BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) is to have its capacity pumped up to 1.2 million barrels per day for 2009. This year the pipeline is to see production boosted from the current 875,000 bpd to 1 million bpd. Meanwhile, production could be pushed further to 1.6 million by 2012-2013, said BTC Turkey manager Can Suphi to Reuters. The lion's share of the pipeline's oil comes from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli offshore project in the Caspian Sea, before being routed through Georgia and Turkey. BP owns 30.1% of the BTC, while Socar holds 25%. Other shareholders include Chevron, ConocoPhillips, StatoilHydro, ENI and Total.