Massive crude oil theft: Two men arrested in Georgia

Two men have been arrested for regularly stealing large amounts of crude oil from the BP-operated Baku-Supsa Pipeline in Georgia.

Georgia’s law enforcers detained two men in the central Georgian village of Ruisi for the crime which, if proven was committed, will see the offender go to jail for up to 10 years.

Police said an investigation revealed the offenders allegedly broke into the 833km-long oil pipeline, which runs from the Sangachal Terminal near Baku, Azerbaijan to the Supsa terminal in Georgia. The men allegedly installed a tap at the broken pipe area and fitted a smaller pipeline to the broken pipe that transported oil to a personal reservoir about a kilometre away.

Consequently, a portion of crude oil permanently ran from the Baku-Supsa Pipeline to their personal reservoir.

Police released a video showing this scheme.

Law enforcers did not specify how long the men had allegedly been siphoning oil but said it was a "massive theft”.

When transporting the stolen oil from Ruisi Village to capital Tbilisi by car, the alleged offenders covered the tanks with vegetables to disguise them.

Once in Tbilisi, the crude oil was stored in reservoirs in an old factory on Tavtchrelidze St, near the Kakheti Highway. Afterwards the oil was processed and sold, police said.

The Baku–Supsa Pipeline is a refurbished Soviet-era pipeline with several newly built sections. It has six pumping stations and two pressure reduction stations in western Georgia.

The four storage tanks at the Supsa terminal have a total capacity of 160,000 cubic metres. The capacity of the pipeline is 145,000 barrels per day with proposed upgrades to between 300,000 to 600,000 barrels per day.

The pipeline runs very close to the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) that separates Georgia and its Russia-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia). Last summer Russia advanced 2km into Georgian territory, which saw certain segments of the oil pipeline fell behind the new "border” signs.