BP Azerbaijan has declared force majeure on loadings of Azeri crude from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, after a series of earthquakes on Feb. 6, the company said on Feb. 8.

The notice was issued to oil shippers following a temporary suspension of loading operations from the Ceyhan Marine Terminal (CMT), BP Azerbaijan spokeswoman Tamam Bayatly told Reuters by email.

BP Azerbaijan operates the Azerbaijan and Georgia sections of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Azerbaijan uses the Turkish port of Ceyhan as its main crude export hub, with a flow of about 650,000 bbl/d.

The BTC terminal at Ceyhan was initially expected to resume on Feb. 8 or 9, shipping and trading sources told Reuters earlier in the week, as damage at the terminal was being assessed. A shipping agent said the control room at the terminal had been damaged.

The Iraqi crude pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan oil export hub resumed flows on the evening of Feb. 7 and a tanker docked to load Iraqi crude at Ceyhan earlier in the day. Flows had halted on Feb. 6 after the earthquakes.

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