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Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline Azerbaijan
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Created before Nov 2016
Last update: 2015-11-01 14:53:10

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Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan pipeline. Photo: BT
Sectors Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil
Location
Website http://www.bp.com/en_az/caspian/operationsprojects/pipelines/BTC.html

About Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline

The controversial $4 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey received $2.7 billion of public and private loans.

Latest developments

2011-05-26 03:42:26

What must happen

Now that the pipeline is operating Financial institutions must ensure full compliance with relevant safety, technical, social and environmental standards and commitments.

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

The project has caused economic and physical disruption to hundreds of communities along the route, while delivering no energy to them: despite the severe energy poverty in region, the oil is destined for the West. The pipeline required the confiscation of people's land; many received meagre or no compensation. In Turkey, affected people received less than the value of a cigarette packet per square metre, encouraging further migration away from their villages.

BTC passes through or near seven different conflict zones, encouraging antagonism. It has led to the creation of a 1,000-mile militarised corridor through three countries that are known for their poor human rights record. The Azeri government has stated publically that it will use BTC-revenues to build up its army to threaten Armenia. Agreements signed between BP and the three host governments have been described as 'colonial', as they bypass social, environmental and other domestic legislation, giving effective sovereignty to BP and its partners.

Environmental and climate impacts

In Georgia, the pipeline passes through the pristine Borjomi Nature Reserve, Georgia's foremost natural resource and site of Borjomi mineral water springs, an important export product. Watersheds are threatened and local water sources were already polluted during construction. BTC passes through a region of northern Turkey which suffers from severe seismicity, where earthquakes have been known to level whole cities. Up to three supertankers per day will leave the port of Ceyhan in Turkey, threatening the viability of fishing in the area. Once in full production, BTC will transport one million barrels of oil a day. When burnt, this will produce 160 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) each year. This is equal to the pollution from every power station in the UK (163 million tonnes CO2).

Other impacts

Failed Construction Standards
Whistleblowers working on the Turkish section raised serious concerns regarding inordinate cost-cutting and a lack of safety standards. In some cases, necessary seismic experts were not hired, in order to reduce costs further. The anti-erosion coating used in Georgia and Azerbaijan was shown to be faulty and wholly unsuitable for such a pipeline. BP's ignored its own consultants who warned that that it would lead to major leaks. Application of the coating continued, despite an internal report for BP showing 25% failure rates in Georgia.

Governance

Applicable norms and standards

Equator Principles

Updates

2011-05-26 03:42:26

The BTC pipeline is operational since the summer of 2006. In the autumn of 2008 the operation of the pipeline was disrupted several times because of sabotage and war threat. The financial institutions involved in the project have committed themselves to monitor the impacts of the pipeline for the upcoming years.

In February 2011, the UK government ruled that the BP-led consortium was breaking international rules governing the human rights responsibilities of multinational companies in its operations on the controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The ruling follows the Complaint lodged under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by six groups in April 2003. Environment and human rights groups, which had filed an official complaint against BP eight years ago, say the ruling puts the oil multinational in breach of its loan agreements.

Financiers

Related companies

BP United Kingdom

Chevron United States

ENI Italy show profile

Oil and Gas Extraction

Equinor Norway

SOCAR Azerbaijan

Total France

News

| |
Type:
Year:
blog
external news
our news

The New Silk Road: China’s Energy Strategy in the Greater Middle East

2011-05-02 | The Cutting Edge
blog
external news
our news

Legal Perspective: Green Finance Investment & Environment Protection

2011-04-28 | Sudan | Sudan Vision
blog
external news
our news

Le gouvernement britannique reconnaît officiellement les violations des droits humains sur l'oléoduc BTC

2011-03-14 | Paris | Les Amis de la Terre
blog
external news
our news

BP failed to act on reports of intimidation along Turkish pipeline

2011-03-10 | Guardian.co.uk
blog
external news
our news

BP violating human rights rules, says UK government

Company failed to respond to alleged intimidation by Turkish security forces along its UK-backed Caspian oil pipeline
2011-03-09 | UK | The Corner House et. al
blog
external news
our news

Andritz AG - Kein Profit auf Kosten der Umwelt

2010-03-26 | Graz | ECA Watch
blog
external news
our news

New report FoE France : French Banks, Fossil Banks?

New FoE report slams French banks for sad state climate policies
2007-03-06 | Paris, France | Les Amis de la Terre
blog
external news
our news

Shareholders protest against ING investments in human rights abuses

Critical questions during the ING Annual General Meeting
2006-04-25 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Netwerk Vlaanderen
blog
external news
our news

Banks warned of liability if Baku-Ceyhan pipeline leaks

2006-02-17 | London | Platform
blog
external news
our news

Equator Principles; Principles, Profits or just PR?

NGOs ask hard questions at anniversary of Bank Standards
2004-06-03 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Friends of the Earth US
blog
external news
our news

Equator Principles: no U turn allowed

NGOs call upon banks to save Equator Principles as support for Caspian oil pipeline threatens credibility
2004-01-24 | Davos, Switzerland

Documents

Type:
Year:
other documents
2011-02-22 00:00:00

UK NATIONAL CONTACT POINT – REVISED FINAL STATEMENT ON SPECIFIC INSTANCE: BTC PIPELINE

2011-02-22 00:00:00 | UK OECD National Contact Point
ngo documents
2007-03-12 00:00:00

The Oil & Gas Bank - RBS & the financing of climate change

2007-03-12 00:00:00 | Platform
ngo documents
2005-09-21 00:00:00

Georgia Fact Finding Mission 05

2005-09-21 00:00:00 | various NGOs
ngo documents
2005-09-21 00:00:00

BTC Fact Finding Mission 05 Turkey

2005-09-21 00:00:00 | various NGOs
ngo documents
2004-05-01 00:00:00

Disaster in the pipeline: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan

2004-05-01 00:00:00 | PLATFORM
internal campaign documents
2003-10-01 00:00:00

Evaluation of compliance of the BakuTbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline with the Equator Principles

2003-10-01 00:00:00 | Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
ngo documents
2003-10-01 00:00:00

Evaluation of compliance of the BakuTbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline with the Equator Principles

2003-10-01 00:00:00 | Platform

Links

Bankwatch on BTC

http://www.bankwatch.org/project.shtml?w=147580&s=153907
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