BTC pipeline seen restarting by the weekend as testing begins on Wed

Repairs have been completed and testing of the pipeline's integrity will start Wednesday and run for the next couple of days before oil flows are ramped up, Murat Lecompte, a BP spokesman in Turkey, told Dow Jones newswires.

"The testing starts today (Wednesday) and loadings at (the Turkish port of) Ceyhan will start from the beginning of next week, so you can infer that pipeline operations will restart by the weekend. The BTC shareholders have just made the decision," Lecompte told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone.

In a separate announcement BP said the dynamic integrity testing of the line would involve some limited and intermittent flow of oil through the pipeline.

"For ship scheduling purposes, the lifting program at Ceyhan will be updated today to start loadings from the beginning of next week," BP spokesman Toby Odone was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The $4-billion-pipeline operates at around 850,000 barrels a day and supplies about 1 percent of the world’s daily oil demand. A fire triggered by an explosion on the Turkish side had stopped the oil flow through the pipeline.

The terrorist organization PKK had claimed responsibility, however Turkey said there is no sign that the incident occurred as a result of a terrorist attack.

The incident caused members of the BTC pipeline consortium to declare force majeure on exports from Ceyhan, freeing them from contractual obligations.

BP owns 30.1 percent of BTC, while Socar holds 25 percent. Other shareholders include U.S. Chevron and ConocoPhillips, Norway's StatoilHydro, Italy's ENI and France's Total.