CEYHAN (Turkey), July 13: The leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey formally inaugurated on Thursday the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a major US-backed project conceived 12 years ago to supply oil to Western markets that bypasses Russia and Iran.

The $4 billion conduit will bring oil from the Caspian Sea fields, the world's third largest reserve, to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, from where tankers will transport the crude to energy-hungry Western markets.

The pipeline is seen as a project of geo-strategic significance, loosening Russia's long-standing grip over oil exports from former Soviet republics, bypassing US foe Iran and easing Western reliance on Middle East crude supplies.

In a message read out at the ceremony here, US President George W Bush hailed the project as an “impressive achievement... (that) marks a new era,” and crucial for “providing energy security and enhancing regionalcooperation.” One of the longest in the world, the pipeline stretches over 1,774 km (1,109 miles) from Azerbaijan to Ceyhan via Georgia, going underground at times and crossing rivers and mountains more than 2,800 meters high at others.—AFP