LONDON (Dow Jones)--BP PLC (BP) said Monday a fire on the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline has now been put out and that the alternative routes it uses to replace BTC continue to operate despite the conflict in Georgia.
Botas International Ltd., the operator of the Turkish part of the pipeline "has informed us that the fire has been put out this morning," a BP spokesman said.
He added Botas would now go to the facilities and assess the damage.
A valve on the oil route caught fire early Wednesday, shutting down the 1- million-barrel-a-day pipeline which BP normally uses to export its Azeri oil to the West.
The causes of the fire remain unclear, though a Kurdish rebel group has claimed it attacked the installations.
Friday, Russia and Georgia entered into an open conflict over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, sparking concerns it could threaten the alternative routes BP had started to use to replace BTC.
But the BP spokesman said none of those routes have been interrupted. The oil railroad to the port of Batumi "is still going" and so is the pipeline to Supsa, he said. The South Caucasus Pipeline, which carries BP's Azeri natural gas through Georgia, is "unaffected," he added.