A total of 1,487 km of of pipes have been welded, and earth has been filled in along 798 km of the route. In general, 75% of the construction has been completed. This includes 805 in Azerbaijan and 74% in Georgia and Turkey, Townshend said. The project has absorbed around $2 billion and contracts signed exceed $2.7 billion, Townshend said. In the first half of 2004, pipeline construction costs totaled $686 million of a forecast $1.137 billion for the year as a whole, he said. David Woodward, president of BP-Azerbaijan, said on Monday that the situation in the Georgian-South Osetia conflict zone would not reflect on progress with the BTC project. Woodward said the company was following events in Georgia closely and hoped for a peaceful solution to the situation. But the company does not expect construction work to be affected because South Osetia is quite a distance from the pipeline itself, Woodward said. The future pipeline will stretch 1,762 kilometers, including 443 km through Azerbaijan, 248 km through Georgia and 1,076 km through Turkey, and will have a capacity of 50 million tonnes of oil per year. Construction work should be completed in the first quarter 2004 and Azerbaijani oil will be exported from the port of Ceyhan in the second quarter 2005. BTC project participants are BP (30.1%), SOCAR (25%), Unocal (8.9%), Statoil (8.71%), TPAO (6.53%), ENI (5%), Itochu (3.4%), ConocoPhillips (2.5%), Inpex (2.5%), TotalFinaElf (5%), and Amerada Hess (2.36%). The overall cost of the BTC project is $3.6 billion, of which the construction itself $2.95 billion. According to the concept for financing the project, the participating companies will cover 30% of the $2.95 billion, and 70% will be borrowed. The rest of the costs will be connected with the purchase of 10 million barrels to fill the pipeline at around $250 million and the cost of servicing credits. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have committed $250 million in finance for the project, 15 commercial banks have said they would lend $936 million and the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation $480 million. Four of the project participants - BP, Statoil, ConocoPhillips and Total - are providing $923 million. The EBRD and IFC are guaranteeing $250 million and export and insurance agencies $686 million of the commercial bank loans. PIN//Interfax