The planned Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline will also carry oil from Kazakhstan, sources said Monday.
It appears that Russia, which insisted that only Russian companies control the majority stake in the pipeline’s operations (the rest being shared by Greek and Bulgarian firms), has reached a compromise with US firm Chevron and British Petroleum (BP), the main operators of Kazakh oilfields.
BP and Chevron were to have taken part in the Russian-led consortium that will control 51 percent of the pipeline, but the Russians announced last month that the consortium would be made up of three Russian oil companies: Trasneft, Gazpromneft and Rosneft.
It is said that BP subsidiary TKN BP and Chevron will take part independently in the management of the pipeline by buying stakes from Bulgarian and Greek firms.
BP and Chevron were instrumental in convincing the US government, and its ally Bulgaria, of the necessity of the project, which the US had viewed as contrary to Turkey’s interests. It is also known that the US approval was conditional on Chevron’s participation.