FACTBOX - Georgia's importance as an energy transit state

(Reuters) - Georgia, fighting Russia over Georgian pro-Russian separatist region of South Ossetia, is an energy highway to the West with two major pipelines routed via the capital Tbilisi and a number of mid-sized oil export ports.

Georgia and other transit states have an obligation to ensure the security of the pipelines, which carry oil and gas from the Azeri section of the Caspian Sea.

From Tbilisi, the links head south into Turkey, away from the breakaway South Ossetia region, the scene of the fighting.

They are particularly valued by the European Union because they reduce dependency on Russian supplies and do not cross Russian territory.

But exports of gas and oil have been disrupted following a blast in Turkey earlier this week.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for the attack. A fire on the pipeline was extinguished on Monday and it may take around two weeks to repair it.

Oil and refined products exports from some Georgian Black Sea ports have been also cut. Following is a factbox on Georgian and Azeri oil and gas export routes.

BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE

Capacity - 850,000 barrels per day. The BP-led pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean coast is a strategic link for both Azerbaijan and Europe as it became the first line on the former territory of the Soviet Union to ever bypass Russia.