South Ossetia shakes up oil diplomacy

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Oil diplomacy may be the focus of a visit to the Caucasus by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney as regional tensions threaten Western-backed energy routes.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from the Caspian Sea port of Baku in Azerbaijan to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey through Georgia is seen by the West as a key asset for Europe, which is struggling to ease dependence on Russian energy.

Cheney heads to the region Tuesday to relay concerns over the security of energy routes as tensions mount in the wake of the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

BP Azerbaijan said the BTC line returned to full capacity this week, to the pleasure of Georgian officials, The Financial Times said Thursday.

"Russia had failed to gain control of Caspian and Central Asian oil export routes across the Caucasus," said Secretary of the Georgian Security Council Alexander Lomaia.

BTC is also meant to discourage incentives to Iran from its oil and natural gas reserves, though Azerbaijan temporarily exported oil to Iran during the Georgian conflict.

Though U.S. policy requires a waiver for American energy firms to deal with Iran, a fallout in Russian relations may prompt a policy reversal.