II International Congress
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Landlocked Region which Caucasus energy
resources can be safely transported through into
international markets. This pipeline will also lead to
creating possibilities for joining together the
transportation systems of The Black, Caspian,
Adriatic, and Mediterranean Seas.
The Possibilities for Regional Economic
Partnership
These projects will help regional economic
developments in especially eastern part of Turkey
as well as developments in general in Turkey,
Azerbaijan and Georgia, and might become
attraction centre by means of economic cooperation
in transportation fostering labor and other factor
mobility between these countries.
BTC Pipeline has fostered economic relations
between countries and been most important step
for bilateral agreements in order to increase and
consolidate cooperation in overland route, railway,
and airway transportations between countries
making possible the realization of the East-West
Trade corridor. It is providing a good opportunity
for the strengthening of economic relations which
will help to eliminate some of the ethnic conflicts
in those countries. I am proposing to analyze how
the economic relations can be improved and
developed in the context of labor and other factors
such as movements in regionalization process, and
how South Caucasian States can be integrated into
international markets through the transportation
arteries via Georgia and Turkey. I think that the
strong regionalization efforts of the three countries
will result in the eliminating of regional ethnic
conflicts by diminishing the influences of Russia
and Iran. There are three various ethnic conflicts
in the Caucasus Region: The Nogorno-Karabakh
Ethnic conflict, the Chechen- Russia conflict and
the Georgia-Abkhazya conflict. There is a great
power game in the Caucasus and Caspian Region
because of the problem of transportation of the
rich energy resources into international markets. It
should be found the safest route for the
transportation of the regions energy resources into
international market.
In my thesis, I will mainly focus on the strong
economic partnership possibilities for Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey on the account of the BTC
Pipeline and Railway project and of transportation
routes for Caucasus energy resources.
Proven Oil Reserves in the World and
Azerbaijan
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) Secretariat and International
Energy Agency respectively estimate that world
demand will increase to 89 mbd and 93.5 mbd by
2010.^ Likewise, the US Department of Energy
estimates that world demand will rise to 123 mbd
by 2025.' While the 9 per cent global demand
growth rates witnessed in the years preceding the
1973 crisis are not expected to recur, the annual
growth rate of 2.1 per cent in 2003 is considered
realistic for the coming decades.
At the end of 2005, the world oil reserves
were the total of 1200.7 million thousands barrel.
The Middle East held approximately 62 per cent
of the world reserves. North America held 5 per
cent, and Europe, Latin America and Africa held
about 9(8.6) per cent each." Outside of the United
Kingdom, Norway, Russia and Canada, the
developed world is invariably reliant, to differing
extents, on oil imports.
In fact, the entire 5.4 billion barrels of the
Azeri, Chirag, and Deepwater Guneshli (ACG)
reservoirs is amount to roughly one-half of one
percent of the world’s proven reserves.
Nonetheless, it must be recognized that Azer-
baijan’s reserves and production are relatively
modest by comparison with the reserves and
production of the global leaders. But Azerbaijan’s
reserves and production are highest ranked in
terms of regional reserves and productions.
Figure 4 above depicts proven oil reserves for
the 25 countries with the top oil reserves.
Azerbaijan ranks twentieth in the list with seven
billion barrels of proven reserves. Neighboring
Kazakhstan, by comparison, has upwards of nine
billion barrels.5 Russia has reserves that are nearly
ten times as large – 69 billion barrels. Saudi
Arabia and Iran’s reserves, however, are literally
off the chart, with 262 and 130 billion barrels
respectively.
The Three Major Projects for Three
Countries
BTC (Baku-Tibblis-Ceyhan), Azeri-Chirag-
Gunashli (ACG) and recently Railway projects
linking Baku with Kars via Tibilis in Georgia, are
considered as three important projects having
strong socio-economic impact for especially the
countries of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
BTC (Baku-Tibblis-Ceyhan)
It is one of the longest pipelines in the world
and is considered as highest profile strategic
investment by authorities in the region. The BTC
pipeline will be able to transport up to a million
barrels of crude oil a day, 50 million tons a year,
traversing 1,760km of often remote and challen-
ging terrain
2
, from the Sangachal terminal in
Azerbaijan to a newly constructed marine oil
2
http://www.cec.az/eng/btc.html
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