BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN (BTC) PIPELINE

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 18806

Status Complete

Location

Regional

Business Sector

Natural Resources

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 18806

Status Complete

Location

Regional

Business Sector

Natural Resources

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

11 Nov 2003

Disclosure date

07 Oct 2003

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Project Description

The BTC Pipeline Project is developed by affiliates of eleven oil companies (the Sponsors):

Amerada Hess (USA);
BP (UK);
ConocoPhillips (USA);
ENI (Italy);
INPEX (Japan);
ITOCHU (Japan);
SOCAR and the republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan);
Statoil (Norway);
TOTAL (France),
TPAO (Turkey);
UNOCAL (USA)

The proposed project will part-finance the construction of the US$3.6 billion BTC Pipeline (the Project). The pipeline will be the primary export route for oil produced in the Caspian region delivering hydro-carbons to the Mediterranean while avoiding the environmentally sensitive Turkish Straits. Tanker tariff in the Bosphorus is nearing its maximum capacity and because of the highly sensitive nature of the waterways, the Turkish government is reluctant to increase the environmentally-hazardous oil tanker traffic.

The BTC Pipeline is primarily constructed to provide an outlet for the oil produced during the full field development of the offshore Azeri Chirag and deepwater Gunashli fields in Azerbaijan (please see separate PSD) as well as to provide an alternative export route for other oil fields in the Caspian Sea region.

As Turkey is not one of the Bank's countries of operations, the Bank's funding will be directed to the Project's capital expenditure in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Transition Impact

The Project is the most important infrastructure project in the south Caucasus region, with significant financial, environmental, political and social benefits for Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The BTC Project is fundamental to unlocking the potential benefits of existing hydro-carbon resources in the Caspian. Subject to appropriate management of the associated revenues, the project has the potential to boost economic growth and assist in reducing poverty, particularly in Azerbaijan, one of the region's poorest countries.

Aside from the anticipated monetary benefits, the construction of the BTC Pipeline will have substantial transition impact on the region including:

1. The application of the highest international environmental and technical standards, highest health and safety standards, international principles of good corporate governance and the respect for human rights.

2. The Project sets new standards of transparency through the disclosure of: (a) all payments made to the relevant Governments; (b) of project documents such as the Host Government Agreements, the Azeri Chirag and deepwater Gunashli Production Sharing Agreements in English (and shortly in local languages); and (c) by engaging independent review panels like the Caspian Development Advisory Panel, which recently published an interim report on BTC (www.caspsea.com).

3. The project will significantly boost economic cooperation between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. It will help to strengthen the economic ties between the Caspian region and its main markets in Europe.

4. To further enhance the sustainability of the economic benefits conferred by the Project, the Bank is working with the Sponsors to develop financing instruments in place for the duration of the project to support small and medium sized enterprises and local private investment.

5. Increased backward linkages through the inclusion of local suppliers and transfer of skills through the employment of local labour

6. The Project will open an alternative export route for Caspian oil producers and will help to reduce transportation costs from the region through increased competition, while at the same time avoiding the Turkish Straits.

The Client

BTC Finance BV (the Borrower) a limited liability company incorporated in the Netherlands indirectly and wholly owned by the Sponsors. The pipeline will be owned and operated by BTC Co., a company wholly owned by the Sponsors.

EBRD Finance

A 12 year A loan of up to US$125 million and a 10 year US$125 million B loan. The Project will be co-financed with IFC and various governmental agencies including US-Exim, JBIC, Nexi, Hermes, SACE, Coface, ECGD, OPIC and a number of commercial banks such as Societe Generale, ABN Amro, Citibank and Mizuho.

Project Cost

US$3.6 billion ($2.95 billion capital cost)

Environmental Impact

The project was screened A/0 requiring an EIA.

The Client has carried out an extensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.

The ESIA contains a detailed discussion of the development and evaluation of project alternatives, the process of route selection, design process and construction planning, identification of environmental and social impacts and selection of mitigation and management measures with respect to the Project's design, construction and operation.

The Bank has assessed a variety of environmental issues with regard to the Project. In conduction this review the Bank has assessed, inter alia, the routing options for the pipeline, the potential impact to wildlife habitats, surface and groundwater. In addition, the Bank has reviewed community-related issues including concerns over land required for the Project and the potential implications for farming assets and/or income for the local population, together with the compensation mechanisms for affected people.

The Client has completed a number of comprehensive environmental and social studies and produced various documents outlining commitments to eliminate or reduce key environmental and social impacts to acceptable levels (Environmental and Social Action Plan, Resettlement Action Plan, Contractors Control Plans, etc.).

There is an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment available for this project.

Technical Cooperation

None.

Company Contact

Oliver Broad
BTC Co Ltd
Bechtel House
245 Hammersmith Road
London W6
Tel: +44 20 8846 5409
Email: broado@bp.com

Transition impact

ETI Score:75

PSD last updated

01 Feb 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Project ID 18806

Status Complete

Location

Regional

Environmental Category

Disclosure date

12 Jun 2003

Purpose of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project (BTC) is being proposed by a group of major oil companies led by BP. It would be the primary export route to the Mediterranean for the significant volumes of oil that will be produced during the full field development of the Azeri, Chirag, Guneshli (ACG) off-shore oil fields located in the Azeri section of the Caspian Sea. The BTC pipeline is approximately 1,750 km in length and will have an ultimate design capacity of one million barrels of oil per day. The total project cost is estimated at US$ 3.6 billion.

The BTC pipeline will help unlock the economic potential of the Caspian, bringing investment and revenues as well as the parallel economic development that will be broadly shared. The pipeline will strengthen competition as a first step to expanding capacity to transport oil and gas from the Caspian, adding competition between routes and ultimately increasing the share in revenues paid to host governments.

There is a project summary document available for this project.

ESIA Summary

ESIA summary for Azerbaijan (189KB - PDF)
ESIA summary for Georgia (358KB - PDF)
Multistakeholder Forum Meetings Report (2MB - PDF)
NGO comments and EBRD response (244KB - PDF)
EBRD and IFC Multistakeholder Forum Meetings Report: Azeri (2MB - PDF), Georgian (2MB - PDF), Russian (2MB - PDF)

Full ESIA availability

Website: www.bp.com/caspian.

Full ESIA documentation is available locally at:
EBRD Headquarters in London, environmentandsocial@ebrd.com

And

Azerbaijan

Enterprise Centre
99 Mirza Mansur St.
Baku
Tel: +994 12 979 624 or +994 12 979 124
Fax: +994 12 979 654
Contact: Ulviyya Zeynalova

Yevlakh Executive Authorities Office
3 Azerbaijan St.
Yevlakh
Tel: +994 166 608 08
Contact: Jumshud Mikayilov

BP Office in Baku
2 Neftchilar Prospekti,
Villa Petrolea,
Baku
Tel: +994 12 979 000
Fax: +994 12 979 602
Contact: Yuliy Zaytsev for Phase 1 documents

BTC Office in Baku
1033 Izmir St.,
Hyatt Tower 2, 4th Floor,
Baku
Tel: +994 12 978 200
Fax: +994 12 97 82 95
Contact: Arina Aliyeva

EBRD Baku Resident Office
Landmark Building 1, 4-th Floor
96 Nizami street,
Baku 370010
Tel: +994 12 97 1014/7
Fax: +994 12 97 1019
Contact: Raymond Conway, Head of the Office

Georgia

BTC project office
38 Saburtalo str.
Tbilisi
Tel:+995 32 59 34 00

REC Caucasus office
74 Chavchavadze ave. room 901
Tbilisi

National Library
7 Gudiashvili str.
Tbilisi

Rustavi Mayor’s office
20, Kostava str.
Rustavi

Akhaltsikhe Mayor’s office
15, Kostava str.
Akhaltsikhe

EBRD Tbilisi Resident Office
38 Nino Chkheidze Street
Tbilisi 380002
Tel: +995 32 92 0512/13/14
Fax: +995 32 923845
Contact: Nikolay Hadjiyski, Head of the Office

Turkey

National Library in Ankara
Bahçelievler Son durak
Ankara
Tel: + 90 312 212 62 00
Fax: 90 312 223 04 51

Beyazit Library in Istanbul
Turan Emeksiz Sok. No:6
Beyazit
Tel: +90 212 522 37 51
Fax: +90 212 512 84 74

Atatürk University in Erzurum
Atatürk Üniversitesi Rektörlügü
Tel: +90 442 218 41 20
Fax: + 90 442 218 71 40

Çukurova Üniversitesi Rektörlügü in Adana,
1330 Balcali
Tel: +90 322 3386423 or +90 322 3386794
Fax: +90 322 3386945

Enquiries

Environmental enquiries:

Azerbaijan
BTC: Arina Aliyeva,
Tel: +99412 978200

Georgia
BTC: Rusiko Medzmariashvili
Tel: +99599 593400

Turkey
BTC: Sukran Caglayan
Tel: +90 312 287 1234

This document was prepared at an early stage of project development, before consideration by the EBRD Board of Directors. Details of a project may change following disclosure.

Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and ESIA summaries are produced by project sponsors, and the EBRD makes them available without any comment or implied endorsement. Any views expressed or statements made in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment or the ESIA Summary do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the EBRD.

Last updated 25 June 2014

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN (BTC) PIPELINE

Project timeline

Project Description

Transition Impact

The Client

EBRD Finance

Project Cost

Environmental Impact

Technical Cooperation

Company Contact

Transition impact

PSD last updated

Business opportunities

General enquiries

Public Information Policy (PIP)

Purpose of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments

ESIA Summary

Full ESIA availability

Enquiries