Tengiz crude starts flowing in BTC pipeline-source

BAKU Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Chevron-led (CVX.N) Tengiz project in Kazakhstan has started supplying crude oil to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a source in Azerbaijan's transportation sector told Reuters on Wednesday.

It has also resumed low volume railroad deliveries to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa via Baku, after halting them in 2001 when BTC started up.

Deliveries of Tengiz crude via BTC started at the end of October with an average daily throughput of around 10,000 tonnes under an agreement between oil major BP (BP.L) and Azeri state firm Socar, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Last month the head of Chevron's Eurasia unit said it would consider using more rail to move Tengiz crude out of the field, which is now producing at full capacity of 620,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Tengiz railroad and pipeline exports via Baku may reach some 400,000-500,000 tonnes in 2008, the Azeri transport sector source said, and average daily volumes of Tengiz crude supplied to BTC may fluctuate through to the end of this year.

The Tengiz crude is not as sweet as Azeri but is lighter and yields more light products at the refinery with less residue, BP has said.

The $4 billion BTC pipeline pumps up to 1 million bpd, the equivalent of more than 1 percent of world supply, from Azeri fields in the Caspian Sea and onto Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast.

BP owns 30.1 percent of BTC, while Socar holds 25 percent. Other shareholders include U.S. Chevron, ConocoPhillips (COP.N), Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL), Italy's ENI (ENI.MI) and France's Total (TOTF.PA). (Reporting by Lada Yevgrashina, writing by Gleb Gorodyankin, editing by Anthony Barker)