Bank of China contributes $260.26 million to $1.63 billion syndicated loan facility for Baku-Tblissi-Ceyhan Pipeline Project (Linked to Project ID#65867)

In 2003, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) issued a $125 million loan and a syndicate of commercial banks issued a $125 million loan to Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC) — a special purpose vehicle — for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Construction Project. BTC’s shareholders are BP (30,1%), SOCAR (25,00%), Unocal (8,90%), Statoil (8,71%), TPAO (6,53%), Eni (5,00%), Total (5,00%), Itochu (3,40%), INPEX (2,50%), ConocoPhillips (2,50%) and Amerada Hess (2,36%). This project involved the construction of a 1,768 km oil pipeline from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Ceylon Terminal located on the Turkish coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This pipeline passes through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. From the Ceyhan Terminal, the oil is distributed to international markets. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company was established in London on August 1, 2002. A ceremony launching construction of the pipeline was held on September 18, 2002. Construction began in April 2003 and was completed in 2005. The Azerbaijan section was constructed by Consolidated Contractors International of Greece, and Georgia's section was constructed by a joint venture of France's Spie Capag and UK Petrofac International. The Turkish section was constructed by BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation. Bechtel was the main contractor for engineering, procurement, and construction. On May 25, 2005, the pipeline was inaugurated at the Sangachal Terminal by President Ilham Aliyev of the Azerbaijan Republic, President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, and President Ahmet Sezer of Turkey, joined by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and United States Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman. The inauguration of the Georgian section was hosted by President Mikheil Saakashvili at the pumping station near Gardabani on October 12, 2005. The inauguration ceremony at the Ceyhan terminal was held on July 13, 2006. The pipeline was gradually filled with 10 million barrels of oil flowing from Baku and reaching Ceyhan on May 28, 2006. The first oil was loaded at the Ceyhan Marine Terminal (Haydar Aliyev Terminal) onto a tanker named British Hawthorn. The tanker sailed on June 4, 2006, with about 600,000 barrels (95,000 m3) of crude oil. As of June 30, 2014, 15.0 million tons of oil and condensate produced in Azerbaijan were transported through the BTC Pipeline, representing 69.8% of the total oil and condensate produced in Azerbaijan, and, as of December 2013, 29.8 million tons of oil and condensate produced in Azerbaijan, were transported through the BTC Pipeline, representing 68.5% of the total oil and condensate produced in Azerbaijan. As of June 30, 2014, the BTC Pipeline had a throughput capacity of 1.2 mbd and 60 million tonnes per annum. Then, on November 17, 2015, a syndicated of banks — Including Bank of China (BoC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — issued a $1.63 billion syndicated loan facility to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline Company (BTC) for ‘capital and business operations.’ BoC contributed $260.26 million (captured in Project ID#65866), while ICBC contributed $173.51 million (captured in Project ID#65867). Other members of the loan syndicate included MUFG, SMBC, HSBC, Société Générale, Citi and BNP Paribas Fortis. The five-year amortizing term loan is non-recourse to BTC’s shareholders and it was scheduled to mature in December 2020. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower for ‘capital and business operations.’

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