Tanker loading continues at Ceyhan Terminal

Crude oil from Azerbaijan has resumed loading onto tankers at Ceyhan’s Mediterranean terminal, BP Plc spokesman Tamam Bayatlı said. Loading at that terminal had been suspended following earthquakes that hit 10 provinces. Loading resumed on Sunday afternoon, BP Plc spokesman Tamam Bayatlı said in an emailed statement. BP had declared force majeure on Azerbaijan’s oil exports through the terminal, which is not far from the earthquake’s epicenter, as part of a potential damage assessment. The British oil giant operates the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which mostly carries Azerbaijani crude to Ceyhan and loads it onto tankers from there. The pipeline also carries oil from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. BTC has a daily production capacity of 1.2 million barrels, but actual exports from Ceyhan have not consistently exceeded 1 million barrels per day since at least 2008, according to cargo loading data compiled by Bloomberg.