Baku Tbilisi Ceyhan w fotografiach

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, flanked by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and BP CEO John Browne (L-R), stands in front of a symbolic pipeline at Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana on July 13, 2006. Turkey launched on Thursday a $4 billion pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, part of an energy corridor vital to both Western and Turkish strategic interests.

As the 1768 kilometre Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline enters service, key systems will rely on cable glands from Hawke International for safe cable termination in Zone 1 and Zone 2 hazardous environments. Around 50,000 Hawke units are in use on the $3 billion project to export oil from the landlocked Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and on to world markets.

The underground pipeline passes from Azerbaijan, through Georgia and on to Turkey. It has eight pumping stations to maintain flow, with block valves at intervals of approximately 20km to provide isolation for safety and maintenance purposes. Most of these locations are unmanned, with automated processes that are subject to remote surveillance and monitoring. Hawke equipment provides the high integrity electrical connections to these critical systems for control, instrumentation and power.

BTC Linepipe layed out for welding, Azerbaijan.

The pipeline - ranging from 34" to 46" in diameter - is strung out, ready for welding, and the trench in which it will sit is excavated. The pipeline is then buried for its entire length to a depth of at least one metre.

Construction of Pump Station 2 in Georgia.

Beyond the two terminals, permanent above ground facilities for the pipeline include seven intermediate pumping and two intermediate pigging stations, a pressure reduction station and 101 block valves. In Kodiana, Georgia, a drain-down facility and pipeline security base have also been specified.

Pipeline lowered into the trench using sidebooms, in Azerbaijan.

Once welded, the pipeline is lowered into the trench in long strings, using a number of sidebooms, all working closely together. The trench is then backfilled using the subsoil and topsoil previously stored, and then replanted with native species to ensure effective reinstatement.

Workers at Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana, July 5, 2006. A four-billion dollar project (Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline) to carry oil from the Caspian Sea fields to western markets is inaugurated on July 13, 2006 in Ceyhan, southern Turkey.

An aerial view shows part of jetty at Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana, July 5, 2006. A four-billion dollar project (Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline) to carry oil from the Caspian Sea fields to western markets is inaugurated on July 13, 2006 in Ceyhan, southern Turkey.

Engineers work at the Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana, July 5, 2006. A four-billion dollar project (Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline) to carry oil from the Caspian Sea fields to western markets was inaugurated on July 13, 2006 in Ceyhan, southern Turkey.

Aerial photo shows part of jetty at the Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey's southern coastal city of Adana, July 5, 2006. A four-billion dollar project (Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline) to carry oil from the Caspian Sea fields to western markets was inaugurated on July 13, 2006 in Ceyhan, southern Turkey.

Zdjęcia: www.kommersant.com oraz Zdjęcia: www.bp.com