Environmental groups meeting in Paris (France) yesterday accused British oil group BP and other oil majors of violating ethics in their bid to build an oil pipeline that will link the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean (see FSU Regional: 30 September 2002: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline- Instrument for Stability or Geopolitical Nightmare?). Apart from environmental protests, the Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan pipeline project is in any case under a cloud because of an expected drop in oil prices and the questionable financial viability of the project, without sufficient levels of input of Kazakh oil. The environmental groups said the BP-led consortium had \'exerted undue influence\' to have Azerbaijan\'s regulations changed in its favor and had \'sought or accepted\' exemptions on environmental, social, labor and fiscal laws. The consortium had also \'pressured the Georgian environment minister to approve the Environmental Impact Assessment, despite the minister\'s protest that the EIA violates Georgian law\'. The US is a strong backer of the project, which is seen as a way of creating alternative export pipelines for Caspian oil that do not travel through Russia. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is likely to approve financing for the pipeline at a meeting next week. (World Markets Research Center Limited)