Caspian crude underpins export growth

摘要

Crude exports from the former Soviet Union(FSU)are on track to achieve strong growth in 2007,after rising by nearly 13pc in the first half of this year.Crude exports averaged 6.43mn b/d in the first six months of 2007,compared with 5.7mn b/d a year earlier(see table).Much of the increase came from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan(BTC)pipeline system,where Azeri Light exports reached a peak of over 700,000 b/d in May.Azeri Light shipments in the first half of the year were running at 554,000 b/d,almost 10 times what they were when the BTC pipeline began operating in June 2006.