Azerbaijan’s Energy Resources and BTC (Bakü Tbilisi Ceyhan Is the Name Given to the Pipeline Project Being Built for Crude Oil Transfer) Project

Abstract

Azerbaijan is a state that has significant oil and gas resources. After gaining its independence, it attempted to solve its own political and economic problems with the realization of projects related to the exploitation of these resources. The basic policy of the state is the diversification of transport routes to export its own energy resources to the world markets. This article elucidates and places the hydrocarbon-rich Caspian region in the context of the energy needs of energy Turkey and the rest of the region. The importance of transportation routes from the Caspian is highlighted and the potential of Caspian petrochemicals or cooperation in energy field is explored. Furthermore, Turkey’s geographic location is close to Middle East and the Caspian Sea basin where 70 percent of the world’s energy resources that have been identified to date is present in accordance with the report of Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Sources (https://www.enerji.gov.tr/en-US/Pages/Petroleum). For the transport of Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves the route reaching the Mediterranean through the eastern Turkey is the shortest and the low-cost, convenient and reliable option from a technological and environmental standpoint. On the other hand, transporting such large amounts of oil from narrow and traffic-intensive Turkish Straits by tankers is not a valid way. For these reasons, Turkey has focused her efforts on the realization of the transfer of Caspian oil and natural gas reserves to the Western market over the East-West Energy Corridor. The pipeline projects connecting the Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe are important for the integration of the region into the West. Safe and commercially profitable pipelines will help the region to achieve stability and prosperity. At this stage, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Main Export Pipeline (BTC) Project was planned for both Central Asia and Azerbaijan oil. This is most commonly referred to as Baku Ceyhan (BTC). The construction works are currently in progress as of 2005 and will start to pump Azerbaijan’s oil through BTC at full capacity starting from the second quarter of 2005 according to the approximate calculations. Within the scope of this project, Azerbaijan has launched a new project for an alternative route to Baku-Supsa and Baku-Novorossisk oil pipelines. Within the scope of this project, European markets, which are new markets for Azerbaijan Petroleum, are opened. Since Russia is against BTC, it is making all kinds of pressure on Azerbaijan side. Lastly, since 1 January 2005, Russia has stopped exporting its natural gas to Azerbaijan. Russia says that the cause of the incident arose from the problems arising in the natural gas lines imported in Turkmenistan. This article will address the strategy and a tactical step that makes Azerbaijan able to achieve the alternative export routes through BTC and its direct and indirect effects on the region.