iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
The embattled former prime minister says purpose of the military courts is to throw him in prison
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Turkey pipeline repairs may take over 2 weeks
ANKARA - A fire on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is still burning in eastern Turkey on Saturday and repairs may take one to two weeks or longer, sources at Turkey's state-owned pipeline company Botas said.
A senior company official told Reuters that the length of time needed for repairs after Tuesday's blast would depend on the method used.
World oil prices have risen this week as a result of the fire and previous estimates on Thursday that the pipeline could be closed for up to two weeks. It normally carries Azeri oil which is high quality and worth more than many other crudes.
Technical teams have been sent to the site of the blaze on the one million-barrel-per-day pipeline to assess the damage, the senior official said.
"The technical teams will begin directing activities. If one method of repair is chosen it will take one week to fix the pipeline. If another method is chosen it could take two weeks or more," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
He did not give further details.
The $4 billion BTC pipeline pumps the equivalent of more than 1 percent of world supply from fields in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
Longer than expected
The biggest hindrance to firefighting efforts has been oil that has settled in the pipeline since flow was stopped on Tuesday. A second Botas source said the fire was expected to be put out on Saturday.
"The fire is continuing, but has weakened since yesterday ... It is expected to be put out today, but it is taking longer than expected to extinguish," the source told Reuters.
High level officials from the BTC consortium have arrived in the province of Erzincan, where the fire is burning, to examine the condition of the pipeline and discuss how to act, he said.
BP owns 30.1 percent of BTC, while Azeri state oil company Socar holds 25 percent. Other shareholders include U.S. companies Chevron and ConocoPhillips, Norway's StatoilHydro, Italy's ENI and France's Total.
Kurdish separatists claimed responsibility for the explosion and ensuing fire and said they would carry out more attacks on economic targets within Turkey. But military and local official sources say the fire was due to a technical error and had not been caused by sabotage.
More news from
Three tugboats deployed to tow away the Malta-flagged Seavigour and allow other vessels to transit the waterway, says the canal authority spokesperson
The toxic gas is particularly dangerous due to the fact that it is odourless and colourless, and thus difficult to detect
As many as 17 coaches of two passenger trains were derailed and severely damaged in the three-way accident that left over 1000 people injured
Lovesy Mole Achamma, a resident of the Emirates for 21 years, is currently employed at a hospital in the capital
Both teams are using the ODI series, which starts today, to prepare for the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe
The actor shared pictures of her mother with Salma Hayek and Jay Z on Instagram
Fintech firms’ revenues set to jump 200% to Dh16.5 billion in Mena and Pakistan by 2025