1st Kazakh oil shipment goes through BTC pipeline

[November 04, 2008]  BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) -- The first shipment of Kazakh oil has been pumped through a strategic pipeline that bypasses Russia on its way to Western markets, an Azerbaijani official said Monday.

The shipment from the massive Tengiz field is a significant step toward connecting Central Asia's gas and oil resources to Western markets. Most of Kazakhstan's oil currently is shipped via a pipeline that goes through Russia, skirting the Caspian Sea's northern shores.

Oil from Tengiz, a Caspian field that is one of the world's largest, entered the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline last week after being shipped across the Caspian Sea by ship, said Tamam Bayatli, a spokesman for pipeline operator BP. He declined to say how much was being shipped.

The BTC pipeline, which opened in May 2005, opened up Caspian Sea oil fields to export routes that bypass Russia. The Caspian Sea is estimated to hold the world's third-largest reserves.

Officials with Azerbaijan's state oil company have said up to 100,000 barrels of Kazakh oil a day could ultimately be sent through the 1,100-mile pipeline.

[Associated Press]

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