Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Supsa part 2

Baku-Supsa and the Baku-Batumi pipelines:


From what I understand Supsa is not a port but has a sub-standard oil storage depot near by [Link Bankwatch] , the oil at the Supsa terminal is sent to two ports: Poti, to the north which in the state of Georgia, presumably getting its oil by pipeline, and, Batumi to the south in semi-autonomous state of Ajaria by train.

Leaving aside the political aspects of the B-T-C pipeline, what benefits could be argued of using the B-T-C pipeline over these two pipelines that go to the black sea and what’s the future of the Baku-Batumi pipeline?

Batumi gets more oil from Supsa than Poti yet transit by train is surely inefficient, so, why does the oil from Supsa to Batumi get sent by train?

The bombing of Poti by Russia has meant no oil has been handled by either port, yet, Batumi appears to be fully functional will they be handling the oil that was destined to Poti and Ceyhan which was damaged by the PPK in Turkey?

Email from Isabel Gorst Financial Times:

“Oil delivered to Supsa by pipeline is exported from a loading facility located 2km offshore. It is not necessary to take it from there to Poti or Batumi.
There is no pipeline to Batumi, only a railway line
BTC is better than Baku Supsa because it is bigger and delivers oil to a deep water Mediterranean port freeing shippers from the inconvenience of navigating the crowded Bosphorus.”



Pictures of Poti and Supsa taken in 1999

Georgia Hopes for Boost from Caspian Pipeline

Hot News Turkey: Georgian oil ports Batumi Supsa operate party

BBC Robin Lustig on Georgia and Polish public opinion

**UPDATE**

The Georgian economy minister, Eka Sharashidze said that the Buku-Supsa was hit with two Russian missiles South East of Tbilisi which Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy head of Russia's General Staff, has denied doing.






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