Public Money in the Pipeline
When ExxonMobil and BP need millions to pay for their oil projects, who do they turn to? The U.S. government.

The pipeline will begin on the outskirts of Baku, where oil rigs rise from the Caspian Sea and the hazy yellow sky reeks of petroleum. From the capital of Azerbaijan, it will cross more than 1,000 miles of rough terrain, stretching through Georgia and Turkey. When it is completed, it is expected to provide Western markets with 1 million barrels of oil a day -- and to provide a gusher of profits to the consortium of 10 companies headed by British Petroleum that is developing the project.

But regional conflicts and uncertain production make the $3.5 billion pipeline so risky that the oil executives who devised the venture don't want to pay for it -- and the commercial banks they normally deal with don't want to lend them the money. So the oil companies are turning to another big lender for help: Uncle Sam. The U.S. government, which helped broker the pipeline deal and has paid for engineering studies in Azerbaijan, is expected to provide as much as $500 million this year to help finance the project, supplying some of the world's wealthiest companies with what British Petroleum CEO John Browne calls "free public money."
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