Earn $620 mln from BTC pipeline

Turkey earns $620 mln from BTC pipeline

Revenue from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has topped $620 million since the first tanker"s departure from the Ceyhan terminal, located on the Mediterranean coast, on June 4, 2006.

Can Suphi, BTC Corp. Turkey director and BP Turkey"s oil search and extract director, said that Turkey had already become an energy hub between East and West, according to the Anatolia news agency.
Since last June there have been 172 tankers loaded with oil, and the amount of oil pumped hit 137.9 billion barrels. Sixty percent of the oil was exported to European countries, mainly to Italy, and the remainder was exported to the US, Brazil, Israel and the Far East. Suphi said the annual capacity of the pipe was 50 million tons, and 1 million barrels of crude oil can be pumped per day. He said the operating life of the pipe was 40 years, the capacity utilization rate was sailing over the projected amounts and exports had exceed the goals.

Suphi said the reserve capacity of the Ceyhan terminal was 7 million barrels and the loading capacity of it was 120,000 barrels per hour -- equal to the capacity of two tankers.

The BTC pipeline is built to transfer oil reserves of the Caspian Sea Basin to world markets. The length of the pipeline is 1,768 kilometers and 1,076 kilometers of it is in Turkey. The construction was completed by a BP-led consortium and the operation of the pipeline is being carried out by Bota? International Limited (BIL) --a company established by state-controlled Turkish Pipeline Corporation (Bota?). The cost of the pipeline was $4 billion.

BIL earns 35 cents per barrel from the loaded oil in addition to its profits from port services. The Turkish Treasury earns 20 cents per barrel of tax revenue. Since June 2006, the state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has earned $535 million through its 6.53 percent stake in the pipeline. Operator BIL"s returns and tax revenues hit $85 million, giving Turkey a return of $620 million from the BTC pipeline.

www.TurkishMaritime.Com.tr