More information

BP (along with other oil companies) is currently building a new pipeline system that was due to be completed in the latter half of 2005 but is now scheduled for mid-2006. It runs from the offshore oil fields of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea, to the southern shores of Turkey on the Mediterranean via Georgia.

Starting near Baku in Azerbaijan, running close to Tbilisi in Georgia, and finishing south of Ceyhan in Turkey, it is known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. [more info on what is planned]

The project is subsidised by British public money, through the Export Credit Guarantee Department and other financial institutions. [more info on financial institutions]

The Baku Ceyhan campaign is actively monitoring the project both to support communities affected by the pipeline and to hold to account the institutions which are financing the project.

Contracts already 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. [more info on colonialism]

The pipeline passes through or near seven different conflict zones. It will lead to the creation of a 1,000-mile militarised corridor through three countries that are known for their poor human rights record. [more info on human rights and conflict

The project is causing 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, often without compensation. [more info on economic development]

It will transport oil whose impact on climate change would be equivalent to more than the pollution from every power station in the UK. [more info on climate change]

It 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, and the unspoilt Turkish Mediterranean coast. [more info on environmental impacts]

All this is especially troubling given BP’s appalling environmental and human rights record in other pipeline systems it has already built – such as those in Colombia, Alaska and the North Sea [more info on BP’s record]

BTC has been built by many actors and institutions - a consortium of oil companies supporting project operator BP, outsourcing particular tasks to contractors and financed by various public and private financial institutions.

Environmental and social impact assessment and other project documents for consultation

Host Government Agreement:

with Azerbaijan

with Georgia

with Turkey

Inter-Governmental Agreement (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey)

Lump Sum Turnkey Agreement (Turkey)

Other official project documents on BTC pipeline, SCP pipeline, ACG oilfields and Shah Deniz gasfield can be found on the official BTC website:

www.caspiandevelopmentandexport.com