Russia/Georgia Conflict: Another Oil War

The conflict that erupted last Friday between Russia and Georgia has shut down two of that country's three major oil pipelines, according to news reports. On Sunday, Russian jets dropped more than 50 bombs on an area where the world’s second longest oil pipeline passes just to the south of the Georgian capital. Local police say they have no doubt that oil infrastructure was the target of the attack, citing the large craters straddling the pipeline. The BTC pipeline across Georgia and Turkey, completed in 2006, was designed to bypass Russia and reduce that country’s control of oil supplies coming out of the Caspian Sea and going to Europe. The $4 billion dollar project was built by Bechtel and a British partner, and is operated by British Petroleum.