TBILISI, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - British oil major BP has suspended crude deliveries from Azerbaijan to Georgia via its Baku-Supsa pipeline as a result of damage discovered on the pipeline, a regional spokeswoman for the company said.
The spokeswoman for the BP headquarters in Georgia said the pipeline was temporally closed for inspection and repair work, and that the process could last from several weeks to several months.
The pipeline, built by BP in 1997-1999, came online in 1999 and since then has pumped over 45.2 million metric tons (332.22 million bbl) of crude. It runs from the Sangachal terminal 40 km south of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa; its total length is 930 kilometers (516 miles).
Georgia's average annual consumption of crude stands at 2.1 million metric tons (about 42,200 barrels per day).
BP also operates the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyan (BTC) oil pipeline in the region, which came on line in 2005 and stretches for 1,000 miles from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia.
A spokeswoman for BP-Azerbaijan said the suspension of the Baku-Supsa pipeline would not affect either production or export of crude, "as we have alternative export routes, which are the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline [to Russia's Black Sea port]."
