Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan Oil Pipeline (BTC) Project and Turkey: Investments, Future Developments and Environmental Impacts

Abstract

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline (BTC) is one of the world's major energy projects. The Turkish section of the BTC pipeline will be approximately 1.070 km in length and will terminate at a new storage and export terminal (BTC Marine Terminal). It is expected that 30% of the pipeline cost will be financed by the investors with the remaining 70% will come from the U.S. Exim Bank, Japan's Exim Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and the EBRD. Unfortunately for Turkey, the costs of constructing a Baku-Ceyhan pipeline are enormous: the Turkish government puts the price at $2 billion, while the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC)'s estimates range far higher, at $3.5 billion.