"FEATURE-Black Sea pipelines look to bypass Turkish straits
Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:23 AM IST11
By Tsvetelia Ilieva
SOFIA (Reuters) - The political stakes are high and the financial risks many but the spoils are huge for investors seeking a way to pipe Russian and Caspian oil around the treacherous Turkish straits to the energy-hungry West.
Oil producers lost at least $700 million last winter as bad weather and heavy seas kept their tankers stuck for as long as two weeks at the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits -- the only way for sea-bound crude to exit the Black Sea.
Delayed for years by political wrangling and environmental fears, several billion-dollar pipeline projects are finally inching towards start dates, with countries and investors around the vast Black Sea vying for pole position."
More:Business | Reuters.co.in
