BTC Oil Pipe Outage Cuts Supplies Nearly as Much as Hurricanes

By Alexander Kwiatkowski

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Disruptions to BP Plc's Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude pipeline may cut oil supplies by nearly as much as Gulf of Mexico production stoppages after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, according to the International Energy Agency.

Supplies through the link, which transports the Azeri crude blend from the Caspian Sea to Turkey's Mediterranean coast, have been curbed by a series of disruptions since August. Production from the fields which pump oil via the pipeline is currently about a third of normal output after a gas leak on Sept. 17, the IEA said in its monthly oil market report today.

``These stoppages have cut 2008 crude supply by over 55 million barrels, similar in magnitude to the losses incurred as a result of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in the U.S.,'' according to the IEA, an adviser to 28 nations.

Cumulative supply losses resulting from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike may total as much as 65 million barrels of oil by end- October as shuttered production takes longer to return than expected, the IEA said.

The organization forecasts Azeri crude production to average 0.9 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter, down from a previous estimate of 1.2 million barrels a day.