Baku-Tbiilisi-Ceyhan basic engineering successfully passes halfway stage

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) partners announced that the Partners’ Management Committee for the BTC crude oil pipeline project will meet in Ankara February 27, 2001 for a progress review. This meeting, one of a series of regular updates, will be the first meeting of the owners group in Turkey and is notable as it marks the completion of the first half of the Basic Engineering Phase.

Significant progress has been achieved on the technical scooping – Botas, are responsible for the engineering work at this stage in Turkey, and Fluor Daniel are undertaking the work on the Azerbaijan and Georgian Section of the line. A series of detailed hydraulic studies have been completed – modeling the flow of crude oil as it traverses the terrain between Baku and Ceyhan. Additionally a 10-km route corridor of interest through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey has already been identified.

Work is still underway to deliver the principle objectives of basic engineering: sufficient technical definition to achieve a +/- 30% cost estimate, a project execution plan and schedule.*