Turkey: An Oil Pipeline Fire and the Russian Alternative

Fires on the eastern Turkish portion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline burned for a second day Aug. 7. Experts say repairs will take from two to five weeks. Though the pipeline's operator, BP, has alternative routes for transporting the oil, none can transport the BTC's full capacity of 1 million barrels per day. And much to BP's and Azerbaijan's dismay, one of the most sensible alternatives is shipping the oil through Russia — defeating the purpose the pipeline was built to achieve.