Istanbul, Turkey ? The presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia formally opened a pipeline Thursday designed to bypass Russia and bring Caspian oil to Europe, a route that President Bush said would bolster global energy security.

The United States staunchly supported the 1,100-mile, $3.9 billion pipeline as part of a strategy to tap sources of crude outside of the Middle East and draw the Caspian states away from Russia and closer to the West.

Oil began flowing from the Turkish port of Ceyhan last month and some 430,000 barrels of oil are flowing each day, said Norman Rodda, construction manager for the Turkish section of the pipeline.

That’s a fraction of the 85 million barrels per day that the world consumes, but with global production stretched and prices skyrocketing, experts say all supplies matter.