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...years, the pipeline had to skirt war zones in the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, and in Georgia, which has been in a conflict with South Ossetian separatists. Then there were the engineering issues: the pipeline had to pass under about 1,500 rivers. At one point BP hired 400 archaeologists to sift through the mountain of ancient artifacts unearthed along the way. Equally daunting was the political wrangling: two of the three countries changed Presidents during construction, requiring lengthy renegotiations over the deal...
...Caspian's oil and natural gas reserves, which some estimates have put as large as 200 billion bbl. (vs. 260 billion in Saudi Arabia), could deliver economic independence to the South Caucasus region and energy independence to the West. "This is about diversifying energy supplies," says Michael Townshend, a BP executive who ran the project in Baku until last year. "It is not from the Middle East and it is not from Russia...
...power to dictate terms for much of Europe. In one power play, the Russians briefly blocked gas last winter to Ukraine, leaving millions freezing. In December, Putin threatened to do the same to Belarus unless it began paying Western-level gas prices. Belarus agreed. Infuriated that Azerbaijan's new BP-operated pipeline to the West bypasses Russia, Putin has said he intends to double gas prices for Azerbaijan, which in turn threatened to stop exporting its oil through the Russian-controlled section of the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline to the Black Sea. "We want to put an end to this!" says...
That could take a while. Azerbaijan--which BP says stands to earn about $230 billion from BP's pipeline during the next 20 years--has rarely been independent either of Russia's influence or foreign treasure hunters. Baku's élite included the Rothschilds during the 1890s, when Azerbaijan produced half the world's oil supply. Oil production slid steadily as the Soviets let the infrastructure rot. Today hundreds of rusted oil derricks and pump jacks, many predating World War II, cram the seafront outside Baku like a scrap-metal forest, with old Soviet tractors turning several wells. The astonishing...
...rest of the country. Regular Azeris, who have an average cash income of $1,140 a year, are reeling from inflation (tomatoes have recently doubled in price). But much of Baku is upbeat and partying. "There's a mood that Azerbaijan is now sustainable," says Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. BP's operation has brought in thousands of oil workers and businesspeople, mostly British, who pack nightclubs with names like Le Chevalier and Le Mirage to dance with local women dressed in spiked boots and miniskirts. Baku's billboards announce this season's store openings, including Harry Winston, Cartier and Giorgio...