Georgia conflict threat to strategic energy supplies

 PARIS (AFP) - Fighting in Georgia threatens a strategic energy hub, the IEA warned on Tuesday, shortly before Georgia said Russia had attacked a pipeline normally



carrying up to a million barrels of oil a day westwards.

The International Energy Agency said that events in Georgia had not affected the price of oil, but stressed the significance of the region to energy supplies.

“Recent escalation in military engagement between Russia and Georgia poses a threat to certain key oil and gas pipelines which transit Georgia,” the International



Energy Agency said.

Two hours after the report was published, Georgia said that Russian aircraft had attacked the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the second such attack since Sunday, but



said it did not know if the pipe had been damaged.

Russia denied it had made any deliberate attack.

At the IEA, supply analyst David Fyfe, speaking shortly before the Georgian claim, said: “There have been no deliberate attempts to damage that pipeline.”

He said: “We think it (any attack) would be counter active... even though it can happen in a conflict.” The BTC pipeline usually carried 800,000-900,000 barrels per day,



he said.

Events “demonstrate that it is a volatile region, it is a crucial region for getting Caspian oil to consumer markets.”

The IEA said that the BTC pipeline was one of the strategic energy supply lines in Georgia.