| |
|
Proposed Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline
route bypassing Armenia |
|
|
American
taxpayers are being asked to help cover
hundreds of millions of dollars in increased
costs for a proposed Baku-Ceyhan oil
pipeline route that, at the insistence of
Turkey and Azerbaijan, would bypass the more
economic and commercially viable route
through Armenia.
Legislation now before Congress, H.Con.Res.
162 would protect U.S. tax dollars by
specifically stating:
1) the United
States should not subsidize any oil or gas
pipeline in the South Caucasus whose
commercial viability is in doubt or which
hinders the United States goal of
integrating Armenia into a secure and
prosperous regional economic framework;
2) all
proposals for South Caucasus oil and gas
pipeline routes should be carefully
evaluated to ensure that all nations of the
Caucasus are included in consideration of
energy and trade routes;
3) any U.S.
funded engineering/feasibility study or any
project implementation focusing on the Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline, or similar energy transportation
projects, must include trans-Armenian
routes;
4) the Trade
Development Agency should fund and support
an oil and gas pipeline feasibility study to
determine the cost savings of a
trans-Armenia Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. |
