British Petroleum declares force majeure on Georgian pipelines

BP says Georgian-Russian conflict forced oil pipeline shutdown.

By Maria Varmazis -- Purchasing, 8/14/2008 11:11:00 AM

British Petroleum said late yesterday that it has delcared force majeure on oil shipments out of Georgia after the military conflict between Russia and Georgia forced them to shut down their Baku-Supsa Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP), which runs between 45,000 and 90,000 barrels of oil a day through Georgia. 

The Georgian government alleges that Russia has been specifically targeting this pipeline near Tblisi, but Russian officials say that the pipelines have never been a target. BP emphasizes that their pipeline is undamaged.

The Associated Press reports that BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said BP began pumping gas into the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline again which runs from the Caspian Sea through Georgia into Turkey earlier today after it was closed on Tuesday for security concerns.