Only bribes could ever have got off the ground an idea as silly as building a 1000-mile pipeline from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku on the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan, a Turkish port in the Mediterranean. The idea is to make sure that Iran and Russia are cut out of the oil and gas riches of the Caspian Sea. Since these two countries are also the two biggest powers in the region and have historic claims on the Caspian, U.S. policy is reckless to say the least. And for no reason.
Oil prices are low.
There is no shortage of oil in the world. Recent drilling results have raised suspicions that the Caspian reserves may not be as large as originally thought. To justify such expenditure, a minimum of 1 million barrels of oil a day would need to go through the pipeline. Since Azerbaijan cannot guarantee that amount of oil, countries on the other side of the Caspian will be forced to make use of this pipeline. This in turn will mean building yet another pipeline under the sea.