The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a total loan of $250 million for a multibillion dollar Caspian oil export pipeline. The EBRD\'s loan comes in addition to a $250 million financing package from the World Bank\'s International Finance Corp., which was approved Nov. 4. The Caspian is a key source of oil supply growth outside the Middle East. At its peak by the end of the decade, the pipeline will supply international markets with 1 million barrels a day of Azeri crude. The U.S. administration, which is eager to reduce U.S. dependence on Middle East oil and reliance on Russia for export outlets, has been a staunch supporter of the project, which involves oil majors BP PLC , Statoil ASA, Unocal Corp. and ConocoPhillips. The EBRD\'s board has also approved $60 million in financing for the Azeri, Chirag and Gunesli offshore oil fields in Azerbaijan\'s sector of the Caspian Sea and which are being developed by a BP-led consortium that will be using the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline for exports. Once the multilateral lending institutions are on board, export-import banks and other commercial lenders are likely to jump in. Debt will make up 70% of the project\'s funding with the other 30% coming from the oil companies involved in the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline company. Construction of the pipeline began earlier this year thanks to a bridging loan. The pipeline is intended to be ready in 2005 to handle early exports of 400,000 barrels a day from the Azeri, Chirag and Gunesli offshore oil fields being developed by the BP-led Azerbaijan International Operating Company. Azerbaijan is expected to earn revenues of $31 billion to $42 billion over the life of the pipeline and the development of the ACG fields, depending on the oil price, the EBRD said in the statement. Georgia is to make some $508 million from transit tariffs over 20 years, or 15% of its annual GDP when the pipeline is at full capacity, the EBRD estimates. Turkey is to earn around $1.5 billion from pipeline and terminal operations, transit fees, and upstream investments, the World Bank has said. (Dow Jones)