AMBO pipeline

AMBO pipeline is a planned oil pipeline from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas via the Republic of Macedonia to the Albanian Adriatic port of Vlore.

History

The pipeline was proposed already in 1993. On 27 December 2004, prime-ministers of Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria signed the latest political declaration, followed by the memorandum of understanding between representatives of Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria and Ted Ferguson, the president & CEO of AMBO.cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4130271.stm
title=Go-ahead for Balkan oil pipeline
publisher= BBC
date=2004-12-28
accessdate=2008-04-05] On 30 October 2006, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia signed a protocol to determinate the entrance points of the pipeline. The entrance point will be Stebleve village in Albania and Lakaica village in the Republic of Macedonia. A similar protocol between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia was signed later in 2006.

On 31 January 2007, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania signed a trilateral convention on the construction of the Balkan pipeline AMBO. This document has been ratified by the Parliaments of all three countries and governs the construction, operation, and maintenance of the pipelines.cite news
url=http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2007/02/14/feature-03
title= AMBO pipeline deal clears another hurdle
author=Marina Stojanovska
publisher= Southeast European Times
date=2007-02-14
accessdate=2008-04-05]

Description of the pipeline

The aim of the convert|894|km|mi|0 long trans-Balkan pipeline is to bypass Turkish Straits in transportation of Russian and Caspian oil. The pipeline is expected to cost about US$1.5 billion and it will transport convert|750000|oilbbl|t of oil per day.cite news
url= http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2004-12/2004-12-30-voa4.cfm?CFID=19959213&CFTOKEN=72186930
title= Balkan Oil Pipeline Agreement Moves Project Closer to Reality
author= Barry Wood
publisher= Voice of America
date=2004-12-30
accessdate=2008-04-05] There will be four pump stations, two in Bulgaria and one each in the Republic of Macedonia and Albania, constructed along the route. A pre-front-end engineering and design study (FEED) will be prepared by KBR.

Environmental studies to be conducted and construction licenses need to be obtained, allowing work to commence in late 2008. The pipeline is expected to be operational by 2011.cite news
url= http://www.downstreamtoday.com/News/Articles/200704/Official_Trans_Balkan_Pipeline_to_Begin_3263.aspx
title= Official: Trans-Balkan Pipeline to Begin Ops by 2011
author= Alkman Granitsas
publisher= Downstream Today
date=2007-04-26
accessdate=2008-04-05]

Project company

The pipeline is planned to be built and operated by the US-registered Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation (AMBO). The project is backed by the US government, who financed a feasibility study of pipeline.cite news
url= http://balkanalysis.blogspot.com/2005/01/ambo-pipeline-moves-forward-interview_09.html |title= AMBO Pipeline Moves Forward: Interview with Gligor Tashkovich
publisher= Balkananalysis.com
date=2005-01-09
accessdate=2008-04-05]

Alternative projects

Other pipeline projects (which do not compete with AMBO since they serve entirely different markets) are the Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline from Burgas to Greece Aegean port Alexandroupoli, and the Pan-European Pipeline from Constanţa in Romania to Trieste in Italy. There is also the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Compared with Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline, the AMBO pipeline is longer and more expensive, but at the same time Vlore (which is a sheltered, deep-water, all-weather port) could accommodate larger tankers and is more accessible than Alexandroupoli.cite news
url= http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MEN307A.html
title= Balkans Crisis supports US Corporate Interests
author= Alfred John Mendes
publisher= Centre for Research on Globalisation
date=2003-07-29
accessdate=2008-04-05] Also, an oil spill in the Aegean would have a negative influence on Greece’s tourism industry.cite news
url= http://www.balkanalysis.com/2004/12/29/ambo-trans-balkan-pipeline-agreement-finally-signed/
title= AMBO Trans-Balkan Pipeline Agreement Finally Signed
publisher= Balkananalysis.com
date=2004-12-29
accessdate=2008-04-05]

ee also

* Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline
* Pan-European Pipeline
* Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline

References

External links

* [http://fsi-institute.blogspot.com/2008/03/ambo-pipeline-reason-for-us-interest-in.html AMBO Pipeline: A reason for US interest in the Balkans?!]
* [http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m41436&hd=&size=1&l=e The Oil factor in Kosovo independence]