At the least, traders should be finding suckers who think the
affair will weaken global supply.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marvin Gandall
> Sent: 08/12/08 12:56 pm
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Putin's Pipeline
>
> Botta Silva writes:
> >
> > Except the BTC is shut dowm, after being bombed two weeks before the
> > invasion and - as I'm sure you know - BP have shut down the Supsa
> > pipeline.
> >
> > So, I think Mr. Putin's petro-objectives in this war have been met.
> =====================================
> The BTC wasn't "bombed", nor were the other two pipelines "despite claims
> from some officials there that Russian forces had attacked the lines." If
> Saakashvili hadn't embarked on his disasterous adventure, BP would not
> now
> be closing the lines as a "precaution". Place the responsibility where it
> lies, please.
>
> * * *
>
> BP shuts down Georgian pipeline as precaution
> The Associated Press
> Tuesday, August 12, 2008
> LONDON: BP PLC said it shut down an oil pipeline that runs through
> Georgia
> on Tuesday as a precautionary measure, but added that it is unaware of
> any
> Russian bombings on pipelines in the region.
>
> BP said the 90,000-barrel-a-day pipeline to Supsa on Georgia's Black Sea
> coast from Baku in Azerbaijan will remain closed indefinitely.
>
> Another pipeline operated by the London-based oil company in the former
> Soviet Republic, the larger Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, is already out
> of
> action after a fire last week on its Turkish stretch. The BTC pipeline
> usually provides around 1 million barrels of Caspian crude to
> international
> markets.
>
> BP spokesman Robert Wine said that the Baku-Supsa line was closed because
> it
> runs through the center of Georgia, where there was greater risk of
> conflict.
>
> However, he added that BP had no reports of damage to pipelines in
> Georgia,
> despite claims from some officials there that Russian forces had attacked
> the lines.
>
> "I think those reports out there are inaccurate," he said.
>
> Turkish President Abdullah Gul also said Tuesday that fighting in Georgia
> had not damaged the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
>
> Wine later said that BP also had stopped pumping gas into the South
> Caucasus
> pipeline, which runs from the Caspian Sea through Georgia into Turkey.
> However, gas will continue to run though that line for another seven
> days.
>
> BP would continue to assess the security situation in Georgia over the
> next
> few days to consider when to reopen the pipelines, Wine said.
>
> Georgian ports on the Black Sea are a main shipping point of Caspian Sea
> crude from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. More than 500,000
> barrels leave these ports daily, and plans are afoot to expand capacity
> by
> an additional 200,000 barrels a day.
>
> The Baku-Supsa pipeline was only reopened a few weeks ago after 18 months
> of
> inaction. It has the capacity to pump up to 150,000 barrels a day, but
> has
> recently been pumping around 90,000 barrels a day.
>
> BP said it still has no time frame on the potential reopening of the
> Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline after it was damaged by a fire late last
> Tuesday. Kurdish rebels took responsibility for sabotaging the pipeline.
>
> Workers for Botas International Ltd, which operates the BTC line, put out
> the fire on Monday and are expected to carry out a closer inspection of
> the
> damage over the coming days.
>
> A third pipeline that runs to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk
> which BP uses to export oil, but does not operate, remains open.
>
> Wine said that there was still some production in oil fields in the
> Caspian
> Sea, but it had been reduced because of the pipeline closures.
>
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