The conflict in Georgia poses a threat to key oil and gas pipelines that pass through the Caspian country, the International Energy Agency has warned.
The IEA said that Georgia was of strategic importance to energy Western diplomats agree UN draft for Georgia truce ...
Georgia calls South Ossetia ceasefire, offers talks to Russia ...
Tensions flare on Georgian borders ...
Georgia detains 14 Russian troops ...
UN report says Russia shot down Georgian spy plane ... markets but that so far oil prices "had not been materially affected".
The world's second-largest pipeline runs from Azerbaijan through southern Georgia into Turkey.
The pipeline can transport up to 1.2 million barrels of oil a day.
A smaller gas pipeline also runs to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa.
The larger Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has been closed since early August following an explosion on the eastern Turkish section of the line.
"Renewed flows through Georgia could be further delayed if the line is damaged during the Russia-Georgia conflict," the IEA said in its monthly report.
It added that the outage and the eruption of hostilities highlighted the potentially precarious nature of pipeline energy supplies in the region.
A top Georgian official said on Tuesday that Russian bombers had tried to target the pipeline but missed.
BP has a 30% stake in the BTC pipeline and said on Monday the link had not been damaged by the fighting.
It had been hoped that transporting oil through the region would make the West less dependent on supplies from Russia.
(BBC)
<< Back