LONDON, August 12, 2008 (AFP) - British energy giant BP said Tuesday that it was not aware of any Russian attack on a key international oil pipeline in Georgia that the group operates.

'We're not aware of any attack at all. We have no report at all of an attack,' a BP spokeswoman told AFP.

Earlier Tuesday, Georgia's security council chairman Alexander Lomaia told AFP that the Russian airforce attacked the key Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline near the city of Rustavi, but it was not known if it was damaged.

'Russians bombed the BTC pipeline south of the city of Rustavi,' said Alexander Lomaia.

'We don't know yet whether it was damaged. It's a second attempt to bomb this pipeline since August 10.'

The BTC pipeline had already been shut last week after a blast occurred in a pump at a section in eastern Turkey.

BP operates the key 1,774-kilometre (1,109-mile) pipeline -- the world's second largest -- that carries oil from Azerbaijan to Western markets via the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

It is capable of transporting 1.2 million barrels of crude per day.