3/12/2017 BakuTbilisiCeyhan(BTC)CaspianPipelineHydrocarbonsTechnology

BakuTbilisiCeyhan(BTC)CaspianPipeline

BP'sBakuTbilisiCeyhan(BTC)pipelinetakesoilfromtheCaspianSeatotheMediterraneaninsteadofusing
tankertransportalongtheBlackSeaandthehighlycongestedBosporus.

TheBTCpipelineprojectcostanestimated$3.7bn,withBPasoperator.Thepipelinewasofficiallyinaugurated
attheSangachalterminal,nearBaku,byPresidentIlhamAliyevoftheAzerbaijanRepublic,PresidentMikhail
SaakashvilliofGeorgiaandPresidentAhmetSezerofTurkey,joinedbyPresidentNursaltanNazarbayevof
Kazakhstanon25May2005.

FillingthepipelinewithcrudeoilbetweenAzerbaijanandTurkey'sMediterraneancoastbeganon25May2005.
BPholdsa30%stakeintheconsortiumrunningthepipeline.OtherconsortiummembersincludeAzerbaijan's
stateoilcompanySOCAR(25%),AmeradaHess(2.36%),ConocoPhillips(2.5%),Eni(5%),Inpex(2.5%),Itochu
(3.4%),Statoil(8.71%),TotalFINAELF(5%),TPAO(6.53%)andUnocal(8.9%).Thepipelinewasconstructed
by,andismanagedby,theconsortiumcompanyBakuTbilisiCeyhanPipelineCompany(BTCCo).

Thefirstoilbegantoflowattheendof2005followingaseriesoftestsandthegradualfillingprocess.TheBTC
becamefullyoperationalin2006andgiventhatcrudeoiltakessixmonthstotraversethefulllengthofthe
pipelineflowratesthroughthepipelinehavesteadilyincreasedtoaround700,000barrelsofoilperdaytothe
worldmarket.

Thepipelinewasdesignedtoaccommodateanoilthroughputofonemillionbarrelsperday(50milliont/yr).It
hasalsobeendesignedwithaninitialworkinglifeofapproximately40years.Thepipelineisprotectedagainst
corrosionforitsentirelengthandsincesecurityissuchabigissueitissubjecttoconstantsafetysurveillance,
patrolsandclosedcircuitTVobservation(incaseofterroristincursion).

Theconstructionprojectemployedover10,000personnelandthelongtermmaintenanceofthepipeline
requiresover1,000personnel.Thecostoftransportingoildownthepipelinehasbeenestimatedat$3.2per
barrel.Azerbaijanisthemainbeneficiaryofthesaleofitsoilininternationalmarkets,collectingabout$90
billionperyearinoilrevenues.

BTCpipelinerouteandspeci ication
Thepipelineroutepassesover1,768km(1,100miles)throughthecountriesofAzerbaijan(445km),Georgia
(245km)andTurkey(1,070km).Indoingsoitreachesanaltitudeof2,800masitpassesacrosstheCaucasus
MountainsandEastAnatolia.

Thepipelinecrossesthelandof20,000individualsandcompanieswhohavebeencompensatedwithashare
ofover$133mfortheacquisitionofrightstothesmallportionoftheirlandwherethepipelineruns.Although

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thepipelineisundergroundandthelandreinstatedontop,allthatremainsvisibleareeightpumpingstations
(twoeachinAzerbaijanandGeorgiaandfourinTurkey).

Thepipelineconsistsofapprox.150,000jointsoflinepipe,eachmeasuring12minlength.Thiscorrespondsto
aweightofapproximately655,000t.

"Thepipelinehasremovedtheneedfor350tankercargosayear."
ThestartofthepipelineisattheSangachalterminalnearBaku,whichreceivesalltheoilfromtheAzeri,Chirag
andGunashli(ACG)offshoreoilfieldsintheCaspian(thecontrolsystemofthepipelineisalsosituatedhere).
TheterminusofthepipelineisatanewmarineterminalatCeyhaninTurkey,wherecrudeoiltransportation
tankersisloaded.IthasbeenestimatedthattheACGoilfieldshavereservesinexcessof5.4billionbarrels.
TheACGfieldsaredevelopedbytheAzerbaijanInternationalOperatingCompany(AIOC),asubsidiaryofBP.

TheSangchalTerminalinBakuhastwocrudestoragetanks,acentralcontrolstation,meteringfacilitiesanda
pumpingstation.TheCeyhanMarineterminalhassevencrudeoilstoragetanks,ameteringstation,
wastewatertreatment,avapourincinerationfacilityandajettycapableofloadingtwo300,000dwttankers
simultaneously.

Thetemperatureatthereceivingterminalis30C,allowingtheoiltoflowfreely,althoughitgraduallylosesheat
duringtransport.Inthemountains,especiallyinthewinter,ambienttemperaturesof40Candground
temperaturesof5Carelikelytoresultinanincreaseinviscosity.Theoilhasahighwaxcontentof8%to14%
byvolume.Toclearwaxdeposition,mechanicalpigsaresentalongthelineperiodically.Thespeedoftheoil
throughthepipelineisestimatedatanaverageof2m/s.

Security
Becauseittraverses176widelyvariedandsensitiveterrainswhilecrossingthepoliticallyunstableCaucasus
region,theBTCwasbedevilledbyworriesaboutitssecurityandenvironmentalrisks.Accordingly,theUS
military'sSpecialForcestrained1,500to2,000Georgiansoldiersinantiterrorismtechniquesundera$64m
programmeaimedatprotectingthepipelineagainstsaboteurs.Inaddition,aBPledconsortiumgrantedan
additional$25mtolocalnongovernmentalorganizationstomanageenvironmentalprograms.

Contractors
BOTASPetroleumPipelineCorporationofAnkarainTurkeywastheturnkeycontractorfortheproject.
ContractorscreeningandprequalificationwascarriedoutwithKvaerner,anindependentengineeringcompany
(nowknownasJohnBrownHydrocarbons).

PipelayandfacilitiescontractsinAzerbaijanandGeorgiawereawardedinAugust2002.TheGreekbased
ConsolidatedContractorsInternational(CCIC)wereawardedacontractforpipelayinAzerbaijanandthe

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constructionofthepumpingstations($229m),andtheFrancoBritishSpieCapag/USPetrofacforpipelayin
Georgiaandalsotheconstructionofpumpingstations($248m).Additionalcontractsworthabout$1.25bnwere
laterawardedinTurkeybyBOTAS.

Pipelinepumpingandmeteringstations
AtthefirststageofthepipelinecrossingAzerbaijan,thelinehasadiameterof1,070mm.Asitrisesfromthe
plainsupintotheCaucasusmountainsandintoGeorgiathisincreasesto1,170mm,revertsbackto1,070mm
ontherouteacrossTurkishAnatoliaand,asitnearsCeyhan,reducesto865mm.

Thereareeightpumpingstationsalongtheroute,whichareusedtoboosttheoilpressure.Therearealso101
blockvalvestationswhichenablethepipelinetobeisolatedintosections.Thepumpandblockvalvestations
alsoprovidepowerforthecathodicprotectionsystemwhichisusedtopreventcorrosionalongtheline.The
sectionsarealsocoatedwithathreelayersystemoffusionbondedepoxy(FBE),adhesiveandpolytheneas
protectionagainstpotentialseismicactivityaswell.

Therearefourmeteringstations,oneeachinAzerbaijanandGeorgiaandtwoinTurkey.Thelineisburiedat
least1mdeep,althoughinsomelocationsthisisasmuchas10m.

"Thespeedoftheoilthroughthepipelineisestimatedatanaverage
of2m/s."

BTCpipelineinstallation
BPhasworkedalonga32mwidecorridorwhileinstallingBTCpipelinegrowingto44mwheretheSouth
CaucasusPipeline(SCP),whichcarriesgasfromtheCaspianSeatotheTurkishborder,runsparalleltoit.The
BTCpipelinecrossesover3,000roads,railwaysandutilitylines,bothovergroundandunderground.Italso
traverses1,500watercourses.ThewidestrivercrossingistheCayhanRiverinTurkey,whichis5.2mdeepand
over500mwide.

Seismicprotection
Muchoftheareaisseismicallyactive:theroutepassesthroughthreeactivefaultsinAzerbaijan,fourin
GeorgiaandseveninTurkey.Thispotentialproblemrequiredanumberoftechnicalsolutionssuchasreducing
theangleatwhichthelinecrossesthefaultorbuildinginflexibilityinstallingalinelayoutthatreducessoil
resistancealongthepipeline,allowingthesubstratetomovemorefreely,independentofthepipeintheevent
ofearthmovement.

Thetrencheswerealsofilledwithroundedgranularmaterialwhichhelpsmovementstakeplaceeasily,relative
tothepipe.Thereisacomputerisedleakdetectionsystemwhichwillworkbyanalysingpressuredropsand

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detectingtheacousticwavestransmittedintheeventoftheleak.

AktauBakuTransCaspianproject
InMarch2005,KazakhstanandAzerbaijanagreedtobuildthe700kmAktauBakupipeline,connectingthe
KashaganoffshoreoilfieldsnearAktauinKazakhstantotheBTCSengacalterminalinBakuviaasubCaspian
pipeline.InApril2007theAktauBTCprojectbecamemorethanjustanideawhenanagreementwassignedin
Astana,betweentheKazakhpubliccompanyGazMunayGazandthe'NorthernCaspian',TengizGroupandalso
foreignoilcompanieswhowillbeprojectpartners.Theproject,however,didnottakeoffduetooppositionfrom
RussiaandIran.OilfromtheKashaganfieldisnowbeingtransportedtotheBTClinethroughoiltankersacross
theCaspianSea.

Thepipeline,whichbeganconstructioninearly2008,isexpectedtobecompletedby2011andwillcostan
estimated$3billiondollars.Kazakhstanwillthenbeabletosend25milliontonsofcrudetotheWestern
markets,whichwilllaterincreaseto38milliontons.

Problemsafoot
AfirebrokeoutontheTurkishsectionofthepipelineintheErzincanprovinceonthe5thAugustafteran
explosionforwhichtheKurdistanWorkersParty(PKK)claimedresponsibility.Thefiretooksomedaystoputout
andon13August2008itwasreportedthattheTurkishoperatorBotsaswouldtakeaweektoassessthe
damageforrepair.Theexplosionburned12,000barrelsofcrudeoilandledtoafirereaching50minheight
althoughtherewerenoreportedcasualties.Thepipelineceasedoperationsimmediatelyaftertheexplosionbut
thereisstill10millionbarrelsofcrudeoilatrestinthepipe.Asidefromthisproblem,around10August2008a
conflictbetweenGeorgiaandRussiaoverthebreakawayprovinceofSouthOssetiafurtherthreatenedthe
continuedsecurityoftheBTCpipeline.ReportsfromGeorgiannationalsecurityduringAugust2008claimed
thatRussianwarplaneshadbombedsectionsoftheBTCpassingthroughGeorgia.Reportsareunclearasto
thedamagebutRussiansourceshavedenieddeliberatelytargetingthepipeline.TheBTC,whichcarries1%of
theworldsoilsupply,couldbeoutofactionfor10weekswhilerepairsarecarriedoutandverified.
ConsequentlyBP,StatoilHydroandotherproducershavecutcrudeproductionattheAzeriChiragGunashliand
ShahDenizfieldsintheAzeripartoftheCaspianSea.

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