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LONDON (AFP) — British energy giant BP said Tuesday that it has closed two more oil and gas pipelines in Georgia because of the ongoing conflict with Russia. "We have closed two other pipelines in Georgia -- Baku-Supsa and the South Caucasus pipeline, which is a gas pipeline," a BP spokesman told AFP. The key Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which BP also operates, was shut last week after a blast occurred in a pump at a section in eastern Turkey. Russia's armed forces on Tuesday denied deliberately targeting the strategic BTC conduit running through Georgia after Tbilisi claimed it had been...

The farther Russia's tanks roll into Georgia, the more the world is beginning to see the reality of Vladimir Putin's Napoleonic ambitions. Having consolidated his authoritarian transition as Prime Minister with a figurehead President, Mr. Putin is now pushing to reassert Russian dominance in Eurasia. Ukraine is in his sights, and even the Baltic states could be threatened if he's allowed to get away with it. The West needs to draw a line at Georgia. No matter who fired the first shot last week in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, Moscow is using the separatist issue as an...

<p>RUSTAVI, Georgia — Russian jets targeted a key oil pipeline in Georgia yesterday with more than 50 missiles in a raid that raised fears that the conflict would tighten Moscow's stranglehold on Europe's energy supplies.</p> <p>Deep craters pockmarked the landscape south of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, in a Y-shaped pattern straddling the British-operated pipeline. The attack left two deep holes less than 100 yards either side of a pressure vent on the pipeline. Shrapnel of highly engineered munitions littered the area, but there was no visible damage to the pipeline.</p>

Russian jets targeted a key oil pipeline with over 50 missiles in a weekend bombing raid in Georgia that raised fears the conflict will tighten Moscow's stranglehold on Europe's energy supplies. Deep craters pockmark the landscape south of the Georgian capital Tblisi in a Y-shaped pattern straddling the British-operated pipeline. The attack left two deep holes less than 100 yards either side of a pressure vent on the pipeline. Shrapnel of highly engineered munitions litters the area. There was no visible damage to the pipeline. Its vulnerability is summed up by a yellow hazard sign next to the vent warning...

BP is facing a second front in the former Soviet Union after Russian jets were reported to have launched a bombing raid on its main pipeline in Georgia, raising fears that Moscow was moving to increase its stranglehold on Europe's energy supplies. The oil giant is the biggest of more than 100 British companies operating in Georgia that have unwittingly become embroiled in the war between Russia and its neighbour. The FTSE company is already fighting a protracted battle with four Russia oligarchs for control of TNK-BP. Robert Dudley, the chief executive of the joint venture, was last month forced...

News reports indicate that Russia may have tried to bomb the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs through Georgia. If so, the bombs missed, and flow of oil through the pipeline was not interrupted. The BTC pipeline runs from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey; note Russia to the north and Iran to the south:

LONDON (AFP)--Western concerns are growing over the impact of the conflict between Georgia and Russia on a key oil pipeline through the region from the Caspian Sea to the West, analysts say. While Georgia doesn't produce oil itself, U.S. and European energy firms have counted on the pro-Western country - sandwiched between Russia and Iran further south - to host a conduit for oil and gas exports from Azerbaijan.

World leaders have condemned Russia’s attacks in South Ossetia, warning Moscow that failure to withdraw risks damaging international relations. The White House said Russia’s military action in the Georgia was “dangerous and disproportionate” and that any further escalation of the conflict could harm bilateral ties. “We have made it clear to the Russians that this will have a significant long term impact on US-Russian relations,” Jim Jeffrey, deputy National Security Adviser, said. In Britain, a spokesman for Gordon Brown said: "We are urging an immediate ceasefire to the fighting in South Ossetia and calling for a resumption of direct dialogue...

BREAKING NEWS: Georgian troops are preparing to defend the town of Gori against the advancing Russian army.

A number of experts agree the military conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia is not in Russia’s interests. The Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili says the United States could be partly responsible for the violence in South Ossetia. In an interview with the France-Presse news agency she commented on the possible reasons behind the military conflict. "There are many Americans in Georgia training the military forces of the country and monitoring the situation. As I understand, they also supervise the strategic corridor – the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. The main purpose behind the conflict is the further strategic orientation of...

(9 August 2008) A Russian jet bombed a civilian area in Ossetia. Scenes include aftermath of bombing and show wounded civilians walking around aimlessly, visibly stunned.

LA PAZ (AFP) - Bolivia and Shell have signed a deal compensating the Anglo-Dutch energy group for its share in the nationalized gas pipeline company Transredes. The accord was signed late Friday by Bolivian Energy Minister Carlos Villegas and Shell representative Jose Maria Linardi in the presence of President Evo Morales, an AFP photographer at the ceremony said. The amount of the deal for Shell's stake in Transredes, which was nationalized by Morales last year, was not divulged by officials. Reports on Saturday, however, put the sum at 120.57 million dollars. < > The deal did not include another stake-holder...

The conflict that has erupted in the Caucasus has set alarm bells ringing because of Georgia's pivotal role in the global energy market. Georgia has no significant oil or gas reserves of its own but it is a key transit point for oil from the Caspian and central Asia destined for Europe and the US. Crucially, it is the only practical route from this increasingly important producer region that avoids both Russia and Iran. The 1,770km (1,100 miles) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which entered service only last year, pumps up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from Baku in Azerbaijan...

** EXCERPT ** TBILISI (AFP)--Russian warplanes on Saturday staged a raid near a major international oil pipeline that runs through Georgia but didn't damage it, Georgia's prime minister said. The 1,774-kilometer Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, or BTC, oil pipeline is the world's second longest and takes oil from Azerbaijan to Western markets. "The area of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline was bombed by Russian planes," Lado Gurgenidze told Georgian television. "Miraculously the pipeline was not damaged."

Georgia claims to have shot down ten aircraft and captured a Russian pilot. Kakha Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's security council, said: "We have hit a Russian fighter this morning and the pilot has been captured." The two countries are close to full scale war after Russian tanks invaded the tiny territory in response to Georgian attacks on Moscow-backed separatists. South Ossetia's rebel leader said more than 1,400 civilians had been killed in the first day of fighting around the capital Tskhinvali. Foreign journalists witnessed an air attack on the town of Gori early on Saturday morning and the Georgian...

TBILISI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Russian fighter jets targeted the the major Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline which carries oil to the West from Asia but missed, Georgia's Economic Development Minister Ekaterina Sharashidze said on Saturday. "This clearly shows that Russia has not just targeted Georgian economic outlets but international economic outlets in Georgia," she said at a news briefing. There have been no independent verifications of Russian jets targeting the BTC pipeline. (Reporting by Margarita Antidze, writing by James Kilner, editing by Jon Boyle)

JUNEAU -- Gov. Sarah Palin's natural gas pipeline license won final legislative approval Friday, and an executive for the Canadian energy company that will hold the license said his firm aims to start work right away. We are all smiles and we are full of gratitude for our good lawmakers making a very, very wise decision for Alaska," Palin said in her Capitol conference room packed with applauding aides and supporters. After two hours of sometimes animated debate, the Senate voted 14-5 to pass House Bill 3001, which gives the Palin administration clearance to issue the license to TransCanada Corp....

Alaska House Approves $26.6B TransCanada Gas Pipeline Plan by Cassandra Sweet Dow Jones Newswires 7/23/2008 URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=64567 SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones Newswires), July 23, 2008 The Alaska House of Representatives approved a bill late Tuesday that would award TransCanada Corp. (TRP) an exclusive license to build a $26.6 billion natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to Alberta, Canada. The proposal, by Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, could go up for another vote by the state House on Wednesday, under what's called "reconsideration." If the bill doesn't fail in a reconsideration vote, it would proceed to the state Senate, which has...

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Alaska's House of Representatives has approved a company's plan to pursue a natural gas pipeline that could unlock 4.5 billion cubic feet of gas reserves a day. The House backed the plan on a 24-16 vote Tuesday. A reconsideration vote is planned Wednesday, but that's usually a formality. If approved then, the bill will go to the state Senate, which must approve or reject it before Aug. 2. Lawmakers in Alaska's House voted to support Gov. Sarah Palin's proposal to award TransCanada Corp. an exclusive license to pursue federal certification for the 1,715-mile North Slope pipeline. The...

TransCanada Corporation, on behalf of the Keystone Pipeline partnerships between TransCanada and ConocoPhillips, has announced plans to expand the Keystone crude oil pipeline system and provide additional capacity of 500,000 barrels per day from Western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2012. The expansion is expected to cost approximately US$7.0 billion. When completed, the expansion will increase the commercial design of the Keystone Pipeline system from 590,000 barrels per day to approximately 1.1 million barrels per day and result in a total capital investment of approximately US$12.2 billion. Plans to expand to the U.S. Gulf Coast follow successful negotiations...