The Baku–Supsa Pipeline (also known as the Western Route Export Pipeline and Western Early Oil Pipeline) is an long oil pipeline, which runs from the
Sangachal Terminal near
Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
to the
Supsa
Supsa ( ka, სუფსა) is a Black Sea village in western Georgia with a population of 273 as of 2014. It is located in the Lanchkhuti Municipality, on the river Supsa.
It is the terminus of the Western Early Oil pipeline from Azerbaija ...
terminal in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. It transports oil from the
Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field. The pipeline is operated by
BP.
History
The preparations for the pipeline's construction started in 1994. On 8 March 1996, President of Azerbaijan
Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev (10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to ...
and President of Georgia
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia (country), Georgi ...
agreed on the establishment of Baku–Supsa pipeline. The trilateral contract was signed between
Azerbaijan International Operating Company Azerbaijan International Operating Company is a consortium formed to implement the terms of the “Agreement on the Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli, Azeri and Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli, Chirag Fields and th ...
,
SOCAR
The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (), largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR, is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and o ...
and the Government of Georgia.
[
] In the same year, the lead contract of the project was awarded to
Kværner
Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005.
During its initial decades, the firm was involved in the manufacture of cast iron stoves and hydroelectric turbines. The turbine busi ...
. The pipeline was completed in 1998. On 17 April 1999, the inauguration ceremony of the Supsa Oil Terminal took place. The total costs of the construction of the pipeline and terminal were US$556 million.
The oil transportation by the pipeline was stopped on 21 October 2006 after abnormalities were revealed during the inspections on the pipeline.
[
] The large scale repair and replacement included replacement and re-routing of pipeline sections near
Zestaponi
Zestaponi ( ka, ზესტაფონი, tr, ) is the administrative center of Zestaponi District in Western Georgia (country), Georgia. Zestaponi is the center of an ancient, historical part of Georgia – Margveti, which is a part of Im ...
in Georgia and
Kura River crossing in Azerbaijan. Also several defects of the Soviet times sections were repaired. In total, the repair works cost US$53 million. The oil shipment restarted in June 2008.
[
]
After a major explosion and fire, which closed the
Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline
The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is a long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and Ceyhan, a port on the south-easte ...
on 6 August 2008, the Baku–Supsa Pipeline was used to re-route Azeri oil deliveries.
[
] On 12 August 2008, BP closed the pipeline temporarily for safety reasons because of the
South Ossetia conflict.
[
] On August 10 and 12 2008, the Russian aviation had bombed the pipeline. In Summer of 2012 pipeline was down a month for a maintenance.
In July 2015 Russian troops demarcating the de facto border of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia, pushed forward the border line near the village of Orchosani and thereby taking control over a short length of the pipeline.
[
]
Analysts suggest that this was a Russian reaction to dissuade Georgia from making further moves towards joining NATO.
While conceding that the pipeline might need to be diverted in the future, a Vice President of
SOCAR
The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (), largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR, is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and o ...
reportedly denied any short term need for such concern.
APA reported: "“Even the routes of Baku-Supsa pipeline are not changed, this will not cause any problem for the pipeline”, SOCAR vice-president on investments and marketing Elshan Nasirov said."
/ref>
In June 2022, BP rerouted oil from the pipeline to the much bigger Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline due to security concerns.
Technical features
Essentially, the Baku–Supsa pipeline is a refurbished Soviet era pipeline with several newly built sections. It has six pumping stations and two pressure reduction stations in western Georgia. The four storage tanks at the Supsa terminal have a total capacity of 160,000 cubic metres.[
] The capacity of the pipeline is 7.2 million tons a year[ () with proposed upgrades to between .
From 1999 to 2016, 76.3 million tons of oil were transported through the pipeline.] In 2021, it carried 4.2 million tons.[
The cost of transporting one ton of oil through the pipeline is $3.14 (2016), out of which Georgia gets a $1.2 share and Azerbaijan gets the rest.]
See also
*Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline
The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is a long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and Ceyhan, a port on the south-easte ...
*Baku–Novorossiysk Pipeline
The Baku–Novorossiysk pipeline (also known as the Northern Route Export Pipeline and Northern Early Oil Pipeline) is an long oil pipeline, which runs from the Sangachal Terminal near Baku to the Novorossiysk terminal at the Black Sea coast in ...
* Energy in Georgia (country)
References
External links
Western Route Export Pipeline (BP website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baku-Supsa Pipeline
Energy infrastructure completed in 1999
Oil pipelines in Azerbaijan
Oil pipelines in Georgia (country)
Caspian Sea
BP buildings and structures
Azerbaijan–Georgia (country) relations
Georgia (country)–Turkey relations
Azerbaijan–Turkey relations
Black Sea energy
1999 establishments in Azerbaijan