BP In More Trouble Over BTC Pipeline

BP’s troubles continue. A US government lending agency has been told by its own internal accountability watchdog that it must monitor more closely the safety of BP’s Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, amid allegations that the company failed to report cracks and leaks in its coating.
A report from the office of accountability at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation – concludes that OPIC did not fully meet its own guidelines on environmental monitoring of the BTC pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey.
The office of accountability recommended “OPIC renew its focus on environmental monitoring of the project in the medium to long term”. It said there should be “specific attention to implementation of the additional monitoring for field joint coating cracks or leakage”.

The report followed a complaint by Manana Kochladze, a Georgian environmental activist, that the BP-led pipeline group had failed to disclose material information about cracking on the pipeline until after the contract with OPIC was signed. Kochladze alleged that OPIC with failing to carry out proper monitoring.

You would have thought that BP would have learnt its lesson in Alaska…