According to Bryza the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline is a "very promising and commercially-reliable project". He reiterated that Greece regards as very important the participation of US companies in the construction of the pipeline, due to their expertise in environmental protection. "That is why we hope the project will be successful, and we'll be glad to support it," he said. Bulgaria, Greece, and Russia agreed to resume the long-delayed Burgas-Alexandrupolis oil pipeline project in November, 2004. Initially developed in the mid-1990s, the pipeline is planned to transport Russian crude oil along a land route that by-passes the congested Bosporus and Hellespont Straits. Concerns over the project's viability, ownership, a guaranteed supply of oil, as well as financing, have kept the project on the drawing board for about a decade.