This year, a significant increase in oil production is expected in Azerbaijan, reaching 20 million tons per year. The capacities of the Sangachal Terminal will be expanded, turning it into the largest throughout the Caspian region. The investments made in oil production and transportation projects will total up to US$14 billion. The pipeline will make it possible to export up to 1 million barrels of oil daily, or 50 million tons per year, to world markets. This is expected to include ca. 20-25 million tons of Kazakhstani oil yearly.

At the ceremony, President Ilham Aliyev stated that although many thought BTC would never be built and others wanted to impede it, they failed. “The BTC project will be of benefit to Azerbaijan as well as to neighboring countries. If not for the support of the United States, we would never have made these plans reality”.

Turkey’s President Ahmet Necdet Sezer stated that the commissioning of BTC plays a significant role for the independence, stability and security, as well as economic growth and economic independence of the region’s countries. In turn, the President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, said that the realization of the project is above all a geopolitical victory of Azerbaijan and its allies, including Georgia. “The implementation of other regional projects will significantly change the political environment in the South Caucasus, and that will bring prosperity and strengthen independence of the countries in the region”, Saakashvili stressed.

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev is convinced that with start-up of BTC, the export potential of Kazakhstan will increase; he even proposed to add ‘Aktau’, Kazakhstan’s port on the Caspian sea, to the name of the pipeline. “BTC is one of the key elements that ensures multidirectional export capacity of energy resources from the Caspian region. Huge energy resources of the Caspian Sea will definitely bring prosperity and success to all countries and peoples located around it”, Nazarbayev emphasized.

In a letter of congratulation to the Azerbaijani people, U.S. President George W. Bush wrote that “BTC opens a new epoch in the development of countries of the Caspian basin. Caspian oil will be supplied to the European and other markets through a commercially beneficial and ecologically safe route.”. The U.S. also welcomed Kazakhstan’s joining of the project. U.S. Energy secretary Samuel Bodman stated at the ceremony that “the BTC pipeline will play a crucial role in global energy politics and have a considerable impact on global energy resources”. The UK’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as his counterparts Koidzumi of Japan, Berlusconi of Italy, and Bondevik of Norway also sent letters of congratulation on the occasion of the pipeline’s commissioning.

The same day in the Sangachal Terminal, the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey signed an agreement of constructing a Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku international transportation railway, whose cost is estimated at ca. US$600 million. The project comprises the construction of the 98 km Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, as well as the reconstruction of the railway from Akhalkalaki to Tbilisi. At the end of the ceremony, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as Turkey’s Minister of Oil Resources and the U.S. Secretary of Energy signed an ‘East - West’ Baku Declaration.

The pipeline’s security is a vital issue. The U.S. representatives emphasized America’s readiness to assist the security of the pipeline, given BTC’s place in America’s energy strategy, but cautioned that U.S. assistance should not be overestimated, as it is unlikely to go beyond consultations and trainings. The pipeline’s protection will be provided by special joint military forces from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, whose main objective will be to protect the pipeline from terrorists. The Ministers of Defense of the three countries will meet shortly to discuss the details of this issue. In this context, Turkey will support Georgia and Azerbaijan with respect to NATO integration issues.

According to experts, the commissioning of the BTC pipeline has weakened Russia’s influence in the countries of the Caspian basin and stimulated the establishing of a new ‘East-West’ transportation corridor. From now on, the countries of the Caspian region are finally and directly incorporated into the World Economy.