The first drops of crude will snake their way along a pipeline that traverses some of the most unstable and war-ravaged countries on Earth. This is the oil flow that was meant to save the West, and last night the taps were to be turned on.

The 1754km Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyha pipeline has transformed the geopolitics of the Caucasus and its impact is now being felt in Central Asia.

Output is supposed to reach one million barrels a day - more than 1 per cent of the world’s total production - from an underground reserve that could hold as many as 220 billion barrels.

Its architects and investors claimed the pipeline would shore up energy supplies in the US and Europe for the next half century.

The goal of the project which makes its tortuous way from the shores of the Caspian in Azerbaijan, through Georgia to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey is to ease the West’s reliance on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The pipeline threads its way through the region in a seemingly modest private corridor only 50m wide but nothing has been allowed to stand in its way.

Everything from primary forests to labour laws and endangered species to democracy protesters have given way to the costliest pipeline ever built.

The project, known as BTC, has driven a wedge between the US and Russia, triggered political unrest in the countries it passes through and their neighbours, and sparked concern at extensive damage to the environment.

Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US concern at the West’s dependence on Gulf oil has intensified.

For Washington the opening is a cause for celebration. "We view this as a significant step forward in the energy security of that region," said Samuel Bodman, the US Energy Secretary, who was to stand next to the three heads of state at a ceremony marking the milestone.

Standing next to him at the pumping station controls was to be the President of the tiny former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

The BTC has allowed Ilham Aliev to become a firm friend of the West while overseeing a Government condemned for human rights abuses and corruption.

The politics of the pipeline have also changed the face of Georgia, where the battle for control with Russia saw immense US influence deployed in support of the so-called "Rose Revolution".

The popular protest ushered the American-educated Mikhail Saakashvili into power two years ago. Washington’s new ties with Tbilisi were amply demonstrated when George W. Bush became the first US President to visit the country this month.