| South Caucasus Pipeline | |
|---|---|
Location of South Caucasus Pipeline |
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| Location | |
| Country | Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey |
| General direction | east–west |
| From | Baku (Sangachal Terminal), Azerbaijan |
| Passes through | Tbilisi |
| To | Erzurum, Turkey |
| Runs alongside | Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline |
| General information | |
| Type | natural gas |
| Partners | BP, Statoil, SOCAR, Lukoil, Total S.A., Naftiran Intertrade Co., TPAO |
| Operator | BP, Statoil |
| Commissioned | 2006 |
| Technical information | |
| Length | 692 km (430 mi) |
| Maximum discharge | 20 billion cubic meters per year |
South Caucasus Pipeline (also: Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum Pipeline, BTE pipeline or Shah-Deniz Pipeline) is a natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to Turkey. It runs parallel to the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline.
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On 21 May 2006, the commissioning gas was pumped to the pipeline from the Sangachal Terminal.[1] First deliveries through the pipeline commenced on 30 September 2006. Deliveries of gas from Shah Deniz gas field started on 15 December 2006.[2]
On 12 August 2008, the pipeline operator BP closed the pipeline for the safety reasons because of the South Ossetia conflict.[3] Gas supplies were resumed on 14 August 2008.[4]
The 42 inches (1,070 mm) diameter gas pipeline runs in the same corridor as the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline. It is 692 kilometres (430 mi) long, of which 442 kilometres (275 mi) is laid in Azerbaijan and 248 kilometres (154 mi) in Georgia.[1] The initial capacity of the pipeline is 8.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year, and after 2012 its capacity could be expanded to 20 bcm per year.[5] The pipeline has a potential of being connected to Turkmen and Kazakh producers through the planned Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline.
The first aim of pipeline is to supply Turkey and Georgia. As a transit country, Georgia has rights to take 5 % of the annual gas flow through the pipeline in lieu of tariff and can purchase a further 0.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year at a discounted price. In longer perspective South Caucasus Pipeline will supply Europe with Caspian natural gas through the planned Nabucco, Turkey–Greece and Greece–Italy pipelines.
The pipeline is owned by the South Caucasus Pipeline Company, a consortium led by BP and Statoil. The shareholders of the consortium are:
The technical operator of pipeline is BP and commercial operator is Statoil.