AMBO oil pipeline

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The AMBO oil pipeline of the Albania-Macedonia-Bulgaria-Oil -Operating Company ( AMBO LLC ) is a planned, 895-kilometer-long pipeline to transport crude oil from the Bulgarian port city of Burgas on the Black Sea via North Macedonia to the Albanian Adriatic port of Vlora . Planning began in 1993. Construction should start at the end of 2008 and completion was expected in 2012. According to this, 750,000 barrels of crude oil per day should flow through the pipeline in order to relieve the pressure on crude oil transport by tankers through the Bosporus . From Vlora , the oil from the countries around the Caspian Sea is to be transported by tankers to the ports of Rotterdam and New York .

Construction had not started in 2011 either. Due to the competition from other pipeline projects, as well as the uncertainties for investors associated with Albania's political and economic restructuring processes, it is currently unlikely that the project will be carried out.

Construction planning

The American AMBO LLC , based in New York, began considering the construction of the pipeline independently but at the same time as planning the BTC pipeline from Baku via Tbilisi to Ceyhan in southern Turkey . The latter enjoyed priority as a direct connection from the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean and was completed in 2005. In addition to the AMBO pipeline, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline , favored by Greece , is being planned as a competing and alternative route to bypassing Turkey, especially a destination for Russia . Although this route would be shorter, the risk of an environmental catastrophe in the event of a tank accident in the middle of the Aegean islands off Alexandroupoli is estimated to be higher. The same risks exist with the passage of the oil tankers through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles and are cited as an argument for both pipeline projects. The Turkish government has issued regulations that regulate the number and size of the ships passing through daily due to the risk to the megacity of Istanbul . The two competing pipeline projects have a similar chance of being implemented.

Based on a US government-funded feasibility study completed in September 2002, the heads of state of the three participating countries and the head of AMBO, Ted Ferguson, signed a letter of intent for the project (Bulgaria has been in favor of both alternatives since 2005) at the same time as a security guarantee that should enable the operating company to finance $ 900 million through loans. The creditors include the Overseas Private Investment Corporation , Eximbank , Credit Suisse First Boston and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development . The total construction cost was given in 2005 at 1.2 billion US dollars, with construction starting in the same year.

In October 2006 Albania and Macedonia established the border crossing of the line between the Albanian village of Stebleve and the Macedonian Lakaica . On January 31, 2007, the contract for the construction, operation and maintenance of the project was ratified by all three state parliaments. The contract came into force in September 2007.

The reasons for the delays in planning since 1993 were initially the preference of the Americans for the BTC pipeline, the Kosovo war in 1999 and the civil war in Macedonia in 2001, the name dispute over the state of Macedonia since 1998, Bulgaria's indecision until 2005 with regard to the two pipelines. Projects and the inadequate infrastructure in Albania. Environmental reports should be available by the end of 2008.

The line diameter should be 91 centimeters. Four pumps will be interposed, one in each of the countries and two in Bulgaria, through which half the length of the pipeline will run. In Albania the maximum height of 1000 meters has to be overcome for the 30 to 40 million tons of crude oil per year. Project costs were re-stated in 2007 at $ 1.8 billion.

Ecological objections

In Vlora, the AMBO pipeline will end in an energy park project planned north of the city, which has been heavily criticized by numerous citizens and an environmental organization. Objections are directed against the location of the oil loading station in the immediate vicinity of a wet biotope; It is feared that there will be negative effects on bathing tourism and fishing in the region. The Albanian government's decision in favor of the project has been termed "national treason".

The oil storage facilities planned in Burgas at the loading terminals are seen as a safety risk, which should have a capacity of 50 million tons for the pipeline to Alexandropoulos alone, without the storage requirements for the AMBO pipeline. The port of Burgas is already heavily polluted by leaking oil from tankers and leaks from an existing pipeline.

In Bulgaria and North Macedonia, the route will run through pristine forests and nature reserves, with effects on the ecosystem and serious damage in the event of oil spills.

European economic interests

The aim of a common energy policy of the European Union is to reduce the dependence on Russian energy supplies. Therefore, the extraction of one of the world's largest oil reserves around the Caspian Sea and the construction of pipelines that do not run through Russian territory are being promoted. With the help of an energy network, the Balkan countries are to be united with one another and integrated into the EU.

AMBO calculates the annual income from the transit for the three participating countries at 60 million US dollars for Bulgaria, 28 million dollars for North Macedonia and 32 million dollars for Albania. 2500 jobs are to be created for operation and maintenance along the pipeline.

US business interests

The AMBO LLC had as operator of the oil pipeline a feasibility study by Brown & Root Ltd. that was paid for by the US government. The former European director of Brown & Root is Ted Ferguson, who has headed AMBO since 1997 . Brown & Root is also involved in the construction of the US military base Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo in the Balkans and is part of the Halliburton group. Its chairman is the former US Vice President Dick Cheney .

The AMBO project competes with the Burgos-Alexandroupoli pipeline, which is 51 percent owned by Russian state companies, while the European oil giant is Total -Fina- Elf kept away from participation. Should be involved BP , Amoco , Chevron and Texaco .

With the economic integration of the three Balkan countries, the USA has a strategic corridor of allied countries from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea, the so-called Corridor 8 , which was proposed by the Clinton government in connection with the Balkans Stability Pact .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ VOA News, December 30, 2004: Balkan Oil Pipeline Agreement Moves Project Closer to Reality. ( Memento from June 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Battle for the pipeline ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 26, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.top-channel.tv
  3. ↑ Balkanalysis, December 29, 2004: AMBO Trans-Balkan Pipeline Agreement Finally Signed ( Memento from May 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Balkanalysis, October 14, 2004: Oil: Bulgaria Talks Transit, Greece and Macedonia Make Up.
  5. ↑ Barry Wood: Russia, Greece and Bulgaria to Build Oil Pipeline. VOA News, March 15, 2007
  6. ^ Bulgaria in midst of 2 major oil projects.
  7. ↑ Southeast European Times, February 14, 2007: AMBO pipeline clears another hurdle ( Memento of July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ^ Deutsche Welle, January 31, 2008: Albania: Civil resistance against energy project.
  9. ^ Albanian Economy, March 4, 2006: AMBO pipeline neglected. ( Memento from April 29, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ CEE Bankwatch: Can the AMBO pipeline make everybody happy? (PDF; 43 kB)
  11. ↑ Michaletos Ioannis, May 7, 2007: BURGAS-ALEXANDROUPOLI PIPELINE.
  12. ^ Michel Chossudovsky, June 2001: America at was in Macedonia. Also published in: The Guardian, July 18, 2001