BP is negotiating the transfer of operatorship of the Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipelines to relevant state bodies of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye.

Axar.az reports that BP Azerbaijan provided this information.

The company stated that, in accordance with the relevant agreements on the management of pipelines, operatorship of export oil and gas pipelines has been determined in advance, and this function is transferred to the relevant government or state bodies within the periods previously agreed upon in those agreements.

"According to these agreements, in 2021, the operatorship of the South Caucasus Pipeline was transferred to SOCAR in both Azerbaijan and Georgia. In accordance with the same agreements, the operatorship of the Western export pipeline (Baku-Supsa) and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is also intended to be transferred to the relevant bodies of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye within the periods previously agreed upon," BP emphasized.

It was noted that BP is currently holding discussions with relevant government agencies to plan the required work in this direction on time.

According to Georgian media reports, citing the BP representative office in the country, if the relevant agreements are signed, the process of transferring the operatorship is planned to be completed by the end of the first half of 2026.

The transfer of operatorship functions does not apply to the Sangachal terminal. The company will also remain the operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli and Shah Deniz fields, as well as the BTC pipeline (BP's share is 30.1%).

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was put into operation on July 13, 2006, and has a total length of 1,768 km: 443 km passes through Azerbaijan, 249 km through Georgia, and 1,076 km through Turkey. Currently, BTC transports oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields, Shah Deniz condensate, SOCAR crude, as well as Kazakh and Turkmen oil.

BTC Co.'s shareholders are: BP (30.1%), SOCAR (32.97%), MOL (8.9%), TPAO (6.53%), Eni (5%), TotalEnergie (5%), Itochu (3.4%), Inpex (2.5%), ExxonMobil (2.5%), and ONGC (BTC) Limited (3.1%).

Baku-Supsa is an export route intended for the transportation of oil produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field block and was put into operation in April 1999. The length of the oil pipeline is 837 km: 775 km of which is a new pipeline with a diameter of 21 inches (530 mm), and 55 km of a reconstructed pipeline. The annual throughput capacity of the pipeline is more than 7 million tons (145 thousand barrels per day). Transportation along this route was stopped in the spring of 2022, and currently, the entire volume of Azerbaijani oil is exported via the BTC pipeline.