Col. Stanislav Lunev
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002

When completed, the pipeline from the Baku area to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan is expected to reduce the U.S. and Western European nations’ dependence on Persian Gulf exports and Russian pipelines. The 1,091-mile pipeline, to be operated by BP, will carry Caspian energy resources, the world’s third largest, to a Turkish port en route to Western markets.

Construction of the pipeline, estimated to cost about $3 billion, is to be completed by early 2004, and the first oil is expected to flow through it a year later. About 349 million to 421 million barrels of oil are expected to move through the pipeline annually and could generate $100 million a year to the regions through which it passes.

In the future, the pipeline could be used to transport oil from Kazakhstan, where 33 billion barrels of oil reserves already have been discovered in the Kazakh area of the Caspian Sea. According to some Western experts’ estimates, an additional 233 billion barrels of oil remain undiscovered under the seabed.

This project has won strong support from the U.S., which is eager to find a more stable energy source outside the sway of the Middle East. As Mr. Abraham said during his meeting with Azerbaijan President Geidar Aliev, this pipeline "is one of the most important energy undertakings from America’s point of view, as well as for this region."

Reducing U.S. Dependency on Middle East

There is no doubt that the Caspian Sea states’ oil presents the best opportunity for the U.S. to reduce its dependence on Middle East oil, especially from such rogue nations as Iraq. The U.S. now imports 23.7 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, but virtually none from the Caspian region, even though it is the source of an estimated 33 billion barrels of oil reserves.

In just the last year, we paid Iraq almost $4 billion of oil money or money for the so-called oil-for-food program. However, in reality this money has been supporting Saddam Hussein’s regime and helps sustain terrorism abetted by Iraq.

During the war on terrorism we cannot afford the continuation and development of this practice and have to stop the flow of this money called by some experts as "oil-for-terror."

It is also important for us to understand that the Baku-Ceyhan project has not won unanimous support and faces serious obstacles mostly from the Russian government, which has refused to participate and fears the pipeline will cut Moscow off from the Western oil market.

Currently, oil from Azerbaijan is shipped mainly through Russia, which has been pushing for pipelines through its territory. Moscow doesn’t like the idea that it has to share oil transportation money with its neighbors in Trans-Caucasus.

As Russia’s Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said last week in New York, "we are ready for cooperation but will not put up with the attempts to crowd Russia out of regions in which we have historic interests."

Moscow officials also said that Russia, which is not a member of OPEC, will coordinate its future decisions of oil export volumes "with current conditions and growth trends in the global and Russian economies, taking into account our obligations toward consumers in Europe and the investment requirements of the Russian oil sector."

Some Western oil companies also have their doubts about the project, saying the proposed route is an expensive alternative to shorter routes through Russia or Iran. European experts say the Baku-Ceyhan path was chosen for strategic and not commercial reason.

There are no doubts that the strategic importance of Baku-Ceyhan pipeline is out of the question because it will provide the U.S. and America’s friends and allies sufficient oil supplies independently from the events in Moscow and Tehran.

Also, this pipeline will contribute to the disarmament of our foes and strange "friends" in the Middle East who are using their oil reserves for political pressure and as a weapon against us.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Middle East

Russia

Saddam Hussein/Iraq

Editor's note:
Get NewsMax’s exclusive interview with Col. Stanislav Lunev: CIA Files: Defector Reveals Russia’s Secret Plans