Kazakhstan suspends oil exports via BTC pipeline due to Ceyhan terminal force majeure - KazTransOil

ALMATY. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's KazTransOil on February 7 received a force majeure notice due to the temporary suspension of loading operations at the Ceyhan marine terminal and to this end oil exports from the port of Aktau to Baku with further transportation through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline (BTC) have been suspended, the company press office has said in a statement.

The company said this as KazMunayGas oil produced by Tengizchevroil (TCO).

TCO was unable to start exporting oil through BTC because of the earthquake in Turkey, TCO General Director Kevin Lyon said earlier.

TCO was unable to test oil transportation via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline yet and couldn't start oil exports using this route, he added.

BTC is owned by BP (30.1%) State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (25%), MOL (8.9%), Equinor (8.71%), TPAO (6.53%), ENI (5%), ExxonMobil (2.5%), Itochu (3.4%), INPEX (2.5%), TotalEnergies (5%) and ONGC Videsh (2.36%).

Currently, the BTC oil pipeline transports oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block and gas condensate from the Shah Deniz field. Oil and gas condensate are also pumped through the BTC from the other countries of the Caspian region, in particular, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

The length of the BTC oil pipeline is 1,768 km, it throughput capacity is 1.2 million barrels of oil a day.

KazTransOil J, part of the KazMunayGas, is the national operator of oil pipelines in Kazakhstan. The company owns and operates around 5,400 km of oil pipelines. The company ships crude to the Kazakh refineries through the main oil pipeline system and for export in five directions through the Atyrau-Samara, Kazakhstan-China Pipeline systems, the port of Aktau, transshipment to the CPC system and by rail.