Bobwins & ALL Happy & HEALTHY NEW YEAR. I made it over from RB...very interesting news for those in TMXN & Caspian OIL!!
Good for TMXN
Another outlet for Caspian oil...
From Aton on Dec 29:
Oil & Gas. Deal signed on Balkan pipeline for Russian, Caspian crude
Three Balkan countries yesterday signed an agreement allowing the US-registered Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corp. (AMBO) to build a pipeline that will ship Russian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Turkmen crude to Western markets, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The 912-km pipeline will run between the Black Sea port of Bourgas in Bulgaria to Vlore on Albania's Adriatic coast. The long-delayed system is scheduled to begin operation in 2008 and will be able to transport as much as 750mbpd, which will be shipped on to Western Europe and North America.
AMBO said it has already raised $900mn towards the project and intends to gather the remaining 25% from private equity investors and a new company that will operate the pipeline on behalf of shareholders.
The strategic advantage of this pipeline is it would allow Russian and Caspian oil producers to bypass the perennial tanker traffic jam in the Bosphorus Straits, which was also a major ecological issue for the Turkish authorities who always sought to limit tanker traffic.
It remains to be seen what the reaction of Transneft will be as it has also proposed a pipeline that would by-pass the Bosphorus Straits, but would go through Turkish territory.
In any case, the new pipeline would likely ease tanker traffic in the Black Sea and expand the export capabilities of Russian and Caspian producers; this is clearly good news.
AI
