A gas pipeline running through Georgia was yesterday being operated again by BP - although two oil routes which also run through the country remain closed.

The energy giant confirmed it began pumping gas into the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, or South Caucasus, pipeline, which runs from the Caspian Sea through Georgia into Turkey.

BP had stopped using the pipeline, which has a capacity of 8.8 billion cubic metres of gas per year, on Tuesday because of security fears.

The decision to reopen the line followed an agreement between Russia and its smaller neighbour on Tuesday for a French-brokered cease fire to end a dispute that began over two pro-Russian breakaway territories.

BP said its Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, which runs through the centre of Georgia from Baku in Azerbaijan to Supsa on Georgia's Black Sea coast, remained closed as the company continued to assess the security situation.

The Baku-Supsa route was also shut down on Tuesday after reopening just a few weeks ago following 18 months of inaction. It has the capacity to pump up to 150,000 barrels a day, but has recently been pumping around 90,000 barrels a day.

Another pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route, is out of action after a fire earlier this month on the Turkish section of the line. Kurdish rebels took responsibility.

The BTC pipeline usually provides around one million barrels of Caspian crude oil to international markets. BP said it has no evidence Russian forces attempted to bomb the line, despite accusations by Georgian officials.

Engineers from Turkey's state-owned Botas International Ltd, which operates the affected section of the BTC line, are still reviewing the extent of the damage.