Ceyhan

Ceyhan is the second most populous city of the Turkish province of Adana and is an important Mediterranean port. Ceyhan is situated in the east part of Cukurova , the largest plain of Turkey, and has a population of 178,000 including surrounding villages. It takes its name from the Ceyhan River.

Ceyhan marine transport terminal is the Mediterranean terminus of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline (the "BTC") which will bring oil from the landlocked Caspian Sea across Azerbaijan and Georgia, and entering Turkey in the northeast. The pipeline is scheduled to begin operation in 2005. The terminal will contain seven crude oil storage tanks, a jetty to load two tankers of up to 300,000 dwt simultaneously, metering facilities, a waste water treatment plant and vapor incineration ("burn-off") facilities. The possibilities for gradual pollution of the Mediterranean Sea — without the expected safeguards — would have been spectacular. Ceyhan's operation will be under intense international; scrutiny.

In July 2004, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Adana's Mayor and local government officials, BTC Project workers as well as many local residents celebrated the 5th million working hour of the BTC Project without any occurrence of an accident. As of July 2004, 76% of the Turkish section (1076 km) of the pipeline was completed.