Kazakh, Azeri relations linked to BTC line

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 19 (UPI) -- The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline provides Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan an opportunity to make an impact in the world energy market, a lawmaker said.

Speaking in the Azeri capital, Baku, Thursday, Kazakh Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reiterated his country's commitment to Azerbaijan as a strategic energy partner, Kazakhstan Today said Thursday.

"Inarguably, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project will play an important role in economic development of our countries and in their integration to the world energy space," he said.

The 1,099-mile BTC crude oil pipeline transports natural resources from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

"Having a solid energy potential, both countries conduct a coordinated transit policy (to) preserve the resources of the Caspian," Tokayev said.

The BTC oil pipeline has the capacity to carry about 350 million barrels of oil annually to export markets.