The first cargo of Azeri crude will not be received in Ceyhan,Turkey until the first quarter of the year 2006

The first cargo of Azeri crude to be received from the pipeline in Ceyhan in Turkey will not probably happen until the first quarter of next year, the head of BP-Azerbaijan David Woodward told Reuters in an interview on October 19

"It is taking a bit longer than we anticipated. The fourth quarter is looking, I think, increasingly challenging. I think it may actually be the first quarter of next year," said Woodward. The first major oil was planned to be loaded in early 2005 but was repeatedly postponed due to construction delays in Turkey, floods and longer-than-anticipated talks with landowners on the pipeline’s route.

If the first cargo is postponed to the first quarter of 2006, the project will be effectively a year behind schedule. BP leads both the Baku-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project and the three Azeri fields that will supply it with oil to be taken to Western markets.

"We're currently producing from Central Azeri and Chirag some 370,000 barrels per day and continuing to build up as we complete wells," Woodward said. "We are expecting the West Azeri platform to come on stream early next year and that will increase the production build-up. We'll be heading towards the 500,000 barrels per day rate by the end of the year 2006."

He said BP will continue to use the pipeline route to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa, putting through about 140,000 barrels per day. "So the balance of our ACG (Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) production, which is building up to 350,000 barrels a day or something of that order by the end of next year, will be going through BTC", noted the head of BP-Azerbaijan