BTC’s daily oil flow to be increased to 1.6 mln barrels

"To date, 470 million barrels of oil have been transferred via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. We plan to increase the capacity of the BTC pipeline to 1.6 million barrels per day. In a short period of time, we will make arrangements so that Kazakh oil also gets transferred through the BTC pipeline," Guler said speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the World Energy Council (WEC) in Istanbul.

The daily capacity of the Baku-Tbilis-Ceyhan pipeline is planned to be increased to meet the growing need of Turkey's energy demand.

"Turkey's energy needs increase by seven percent annually. Thirty percent of Turkey's energy needs are met by domestic sources. We have increased the number of explorations in our seas in the search for oil and gas," he added. 

"Developing electric, gas, and oil connections are strategically important to integrate energy markets," Guler said, adding that the issue of energy safety was gaining importance.

HARMONIZING NABUCCO IMPORTANT

The producers, transit countries and consumers in the Nabucco project must act as a single chain in order to attain a real result, the energy minister said.

The Nabucco project would be completed by the year 2013 with a capacity of 31 billion cubic meters, Guler said.

The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.

It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. This pipeline is a diversion from the current methods of importing natural gas solely from Russia. The project is backed by the European Union and the United States.