STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Caspian oil pipeline moves step closer to reality By Rosalind Russell TBILISI, June 20 (Reuters) - A pipeline project set to unlock a million barrels per day of Caspian oil moved closer to reality on Wednesday with the start of a $150 million feasibility study and interest from another major oil company. The head of Italian energy group ENI said the company would like to participate in the detailed engineering study -- which should be the last stage before construction of the pipeline from the Azeri capital Baku through Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The decision by existing shareholders, led by BP, to sink more funds into the project reflects a new confidence in the pipeline which only months ago looked in doubt due to its high cost and poor drilling results in the Caspian. "The pipeline partners have endorsed a significant increase in activity and expenditure for the next 12 months," Wref Digings, head of oil export development for BP in Azerbaijan told Reuters. "This reflects their confidence that the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) project is a credible business proposition to take forward." A basic engineering study completed last month raised the pipeline's price tag -- from initial estimates of $2.4 billion to $2.8-$2.9 billion -- but this is still within the bounds of commercial viability, say shareholders. Despite recent exploration disappointments, partners believe there is enough discovered oil to make the line viable with the potential of the big Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli complex even greater than first thought. Production from the field, which is managed by the BP-led Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), will be ramped up to 300,000 bpd by 2005 and to one million bpd in another five years. PIPELINE DRAWS NEW INTEREST ENI chief executive Vittorio Mincato said on Wednesday the project, backed by the United States which wants to lessen Russian energy dominance in the Caspian region, had reached a stage which warranted his company's participation. "Everyone must pass from lip service to concrete assessment," he told an energy conference in Istanbul. "What is important right now is to move from political and theoretical discussion to concrete and technical evaluation of the facts." The year-long engineering study by U.S. firm Bechtel aims to finalise the exact route and design of the 1,700 km (1,000 mile) pipeline, its cost and environmental impact. The shareholders will then decide whether to move to the construction phase with first oil expected to flow through the line in early 2005. U.S. oil giant Chevron has also said it would like to join the project with a stake of about 10 percent. The largest foreign oil producer across the Caspian in Kazakhstan, Chevron is eyeing the possibility of feeding Kazakh crude into the line. The final assignment of parts of Azeri state oil company SOCAR's 50 percent interest in the pipeline is expected by the end of the year when a pipeline company will be established, says BP. Other shareholders in the pipeline are Statoil, Unocal, TPAO of Turkey, Itochu and Delta Hess. 06:26 06-20-01 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
