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TBILISI -- Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze discussed the export of Azerbaijani crude oil through Georgia with British Petroleum representatives Thursday, signaling his country's entry into the high-stakes struggle for Caucasus oil.
The meeting addressed a proposed oil pipeline from Azerbaijan across Georgia to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Turkey, said Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Temur Basilia. The pipeline would carry 35 million metric tons of oil a year (700,000 barrels a day).
British Petroleum and Norway's Statoil A/S lead a consortium of foreign companies that signed a multibillion dollar contract last September to develop Azerbaijan's vast oil reserves in the Caspian Sea.
The export of Azerbaijani crude has become a major diplomatic battleground. Russia is pushing to have the pipeline laid across its own territory to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.
But Turkey wants the oil to come to Ceyhan, hoping to gain influence in Azerbaijan and the Turkic republics of Central Asia.
The route through Turkey is estimated to be $500 million cheaper than the Russian option.
Shevardnadze and BP Hold Oil Talks
10 February 1995
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