U.S.-Backed Pipeline Route Gains Backing

The Turkish government and four former Soviet republics--Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia--signed a declaration in favor of a U.S.-backed route for bringing oil from the Caspian Sea to Europe. The pledge sends a strong message to oil companies, who are said to prefer a cheaper and shorter route. Washington prefers to see the oil from the Caspian Sea, the world’s second-richest oil reserves after the Middle East, passing through an allied country like Turkey rather than hostile Iran, which has also proposed a route. U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson expressed confidence that the companies would ultimately go with the Turkish route, which links Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. In a related development, No. 4 U.S. energy company Chevron Corp. said the Russian government today is expected to approve construction of a $2.2-billion pipeline from the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan to the Black Sea port of Novorossysk.