Tbilisi (GBC) – British oil company BP will transfer management of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to SOCAR from July 1, - Gio Cristofoli, Regional president Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye said.

He said the process is taking place within the framework of the contractual obligations between the parties.

“We are successfully moving towards fulfilling the contractual obligations set for July 1 and we continue to work in this direction,” Christofoli said.

A BP representative emphasized that this decision does not mean that the company is abandoning the project.

“This is just a contractual obligation. SOCAR has sufficient experience and capabilities to successfully operate the pipeline. We are very optimistic about the transition process,” he said.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was commissioned in 2006 and is the main route for transporting oil from Azerbaijani fields in the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The pipeline is approximately 1,768 kilometers long and passes through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

BP has been the operator of the project since its commissioning. BTC is considered one of the most important projects in international energy infrastructure, as it allows the export of Caspian oil to world markets, bypassing the territories of Russia and Iran. SOCAR is one of the largest shareholders in the project and has been trying to strengthen its role in the country's energy infrastructure in recent years.