Turkey Expects BTC Pipeline to Open in `a Few Days' After Fire

By Steve Bryant and Mark Bentley

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey expects the Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan oil pipeline to open in ``a few days'' after repairs on the fire-damaged route are complete, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said today.

An assessment of damage to the pipeline, where a fire broke out on Aug. 5, has revealed no evidence of sabotage, Guler told reporters in Turkey's capital Ankara.

BP Plc, StatoilHydro ASA and partners had to reduce production at oil fields in the Azeri part of the Caspian Sea after flows were halted through BTC. The 1,768-kilometer (1,100- mile) link, which has a 1 million barrel-a-day capacity, connects Azerbaijan with the Turkish port of Ceyhan via Georgia.

Guler said he expects to complete gas accords with the Iranian government within a month. Turkey has been negotiating with Iran to build a pipeline to transport natural gas to Europe via Turkey and to exploit gas fields in Iran.

To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Bryant in Ankara t sbryant5@bloomberg.netMark Bentley in Ankara at mbentley3@bloomberg.net.