A pipeline that will carry oil for the first time from the Caspian sea to the Mediterranean was opened yesterday, marking the emergence of the Caspian region as a new force in the world's oil markets.

Hailing the biggest investment in the region since the collapse of communism, the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey turned on the taps of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline linking the three countries.