Baku–Supsa Western Route Export Pipeline

Baku–Supsa Western Route Export Pipeline is a part of the energy corridor connecting the Caspian region with the West.

In 1995, the Azerbaijani authorities made a decision on the transportation of oil extracted from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea through the territory of Georgia, which laid the foundation for the construction of the Baku–Supsa oil pipeline and the Supsa oil terminal.

The construction of the pipeline started in 1997 and was put into operation on April 17, 1999. This was the first large-scale international infrastructure project for Georgia after gaining independence, and it had an investment of 600 million US dollars, which laid the foundation for the transportation of Caspian oil to the western direction of the international market.

The total length of the oil pipeline is 830 km, (376 km of it lies on the territory of Georgia). It starts from the Sangachal Terminal on the Caspian Sea coast and ends at the Supsa Terminal on the Black Sea coast. The capacity of the pipeline is 7 million tons of crude oil per year. For the safety and protection of the environment, the entire pipeline is buried in the ground. The steel pipe is 775 km long, the diameter is 530 mm, there are 6 pump stations (3 of them on the territory of Georgia) and 2 pressure reducing stations. Supsa terminal consists of four crude oil reservoirs, each with a capacity of 48,820 m³. During 1999-2021, approximately 98 million tons of oil were transported through the Baku- Supsa oil pipeline. As a result of the construction of the Baku- Supsa oil pipeline, Georgia became an important part of the international market for the transit of oil from the Caspian fields.

T. Gochitashvili