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Andy Rowell, 6 June 2005  It has been billed as the pipeline that will change the world. At a cost of nearly $4 billion, it is only just over 100 cm wide, but stretches 1,770km from the vast oilfields of the land-locked Caspian Sea to the warm waters of the Mediterranean. After nearly fifteen years of planning and construction, oil has started its long journey down the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. The pipeline stretches west from the oil town of Baku in Azerbaijan, then across the ex-Russian state of Georgia, and finally south and west through Turkey to the port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Coast. Such is the pipeline’s importance that the Presidents of all three countries were at the official opening ceremony on 25th May.
So too was Lord Browne, the chief executive of BP, the operator and main shareholder of the pipeline. Browne described the project as “an heroic engineering achievement”, that “opens up massive new fields in the Caspian Sea to world markets, enhancing security of supply for decades to come. And it does so in a way that avoids the transit of large numbers of tankers through the narrow and congested Bosphorous.” For companies such as BP and its European and American backers, it does so by also avoiding troublesome areas like Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and China.
 BP and its consortium partners have invested $20 billion in the Caspian region with a further $10 billion to follow. David Woodward, BP Azerbaijan Associate President said: “Ten years ago many people said that this was an impossible project. Thanks to many people the impossible was made possible”.
It is just over ten years since September 1994, when BP and its consortium partners signed an agreement with the government of Azerbaijan to develop the country’s oil and gas reserves. It had taken three and a half years of complex negotiations but the deal was heralded as the “Contract of the Century” .
The pipeline is seen as a personal vindication for BP’s chairman, Sir John Browne, who is essentially a finance man in a tough man’s industry. A man who hates driving in an industry that depends on us driving. Physically slight, he is a renowned tough negotiator. “He has an interesting smile” says one oil analyst. “But you never know if he is going to have you for lunch.”
Also at the opening ceremony was U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman. “The BTC pipeline's completion means that a more Caspian oil can reach global markets faster, and in a commercially viable and environmentally safe manner,” he said. “The BTC pipeline strengthens both global and regional energy security by increasing the flow of oil to market.” Those markets include the hungry consumers of Europe and North America.
Ever since September 11th 2001, America has been looking to increase it energy security by sourcing more of its oil outside the volatile Middle East and away from the stranglehold of the OPEC producing nations. The Caspian has been one of its top priorities and the region is seen as strategically important to the US. It is no surprise that the opening of the BTC pipeline is listed as one of the recommendations in President Bush's National Energy Policy. A policy that is designed to protect America’s access to oil supplies, no matter what the cost.
And the cost is great. It will take over six months for the first oil to reach the Turkish port of Ceyhan. But what a journey it is. It will pass over mountains, through conflict zones, over nature reserves, through archaeological sites and over a major earthquake zone. For many the pipeline is already a disaster, but they fear worse is to come. A whole host of issues from military proliferation, human rights abuses and ecological concerns remain unresolved .
The Russians are not happy with the pipeline and boycotted the opening ceremony. Firstly it means lost revenue for them as the European Union could reduce its Russian oil imports by up to a quarter in the next few years. But far more importantly, the pipeline greatly increases America’s power in the region, whilst is seen as signifying Russia’s declining influence.
The Russians are deeply worried about US military influence and intervention in the region. They have reason to be so. The month before the opening of the pipeline, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was also in Azerbaijan to “hold new discussions on the principles of co-operation between Azerbaijan and the USA in the sphere of security”. It was his second visit to the country in four months. It was no surprise either that George Bush visited Georgia last month – the first US president to do so.
Rumfeld’s Department has been working on security for the pipeline and increased American military intervention and presence in the area. The Pentagon is planning to spend £100 million in creating a “Caspian Guard” whose job it would be to protect the BTC pipeline and the region’s oil . The US will form a trilateral alliance with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. They will create a 1,700 km militarised zone around the pipeline. General Wald, the Deputy Commander of US Forces in Europe argues that the Caspian Guard is “one of the most brilliant strategic issues that the United States has pulled off in the last 20 years, a brilliant program” .
 No matter what American military presence there is, the pipeline is likely to increase conflict in the region. It passes near seven different war zones, so will increase tension along its route. One organisation, the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) argues the pipeline could destabilise the whole Kurdish region of Turkey. The KHRP has joined forces with other human rights and environmental organisations to form the “Baku Ceyhan Campaign” attempting to raise awareness of the social problems, human rights abuses and environmental damage done by the pipeline.
In March, the campaigners uncovered evidence of human rights abuses, including violations of international fair trial standards in Turkey. They highlighted the case of a Turkish man, Ferhat Kaya, who had been detained and tortured for working with villagers affected by the pipeline. There are human rights abuses in Azerbaijan too. The day before the opening of the pipeline, Human Rights Watch expressed its “deep concern over the recent detentions of opposition party members and the use of police brutality to stop a peaceful opposition rally from taking place.” . Georgia is no better. In April 2005 Human Rights Watch warned that the new Georgian government had “failed to end widespread torture of detainees in the criminal justice system .”
In their thirst for oil, western governments are ignoring these human rights abuses. But there may be one problem they cannot ignore for much longer. The pipeline has a major design flaw that could lead to an environmental catastrophe. British journalist Michael Gillard has investigated the special protective coatings that have been used on the welding joints along the pipeline, that are meant to stop it corroding .
Gillard’s investigations have led to an inquiry by a British Parliamentary committee , which heard evidence from David Mortimore, a senior consultant to BP. Mortimore told the committee that there had been corruption involved in the choice of coating. He also told them that BP had ignored internal warning that the coatings did not work. The oil giant then covered up the scandal.
The faulty coatings mean there could be a major oil leak if the pipeline, which has been buried, is not dug up and recoated. Already contractors have discovered cracking on the coatings that have led to an escalating dispute between BP’s contractors and the company. BP’s major contractor in Azerbaijan is heading towards taking BP to the International Court of Arbitration to see who is responsible for the coating failure. In order to win their case the contractors commissioned a full field trial that was independently verified. The results are startling because they show that the coatings are still failing. They won’t protect the pipeline. However the oil has now started to flow. Many believe it is a disaster waiting to happen.
There is also going to be long-term ecological damage from the pipeline. It is due to transport one billion barrels of oil a day, that is the equivalent to 160 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, the main gas causing climate change. When carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it has a lifespan of up to 200 years. So for 200 years the pipeline could help change our climate, causing floods, droughts, sea level rise, and storms. “The reality is that BP will be polluting the atmosphere until the 22nd Century”, says James Marriott, from Platform, another group in the Baku-Ceyhan campaign. The campaign has pledged to continue their fight, because the BTC pipeline will change the world. It will not be for the better. It will be for the worse. Just wait and see.
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