Kazachstan poszukuje alternatyw transportowych

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev Friday urged major foreign oil and gas companies to invest in the development of his landlocked Central Asian nation's transport infrastructure in return for access to vast natural resources.

The ex-Soviet nation produces 1.3 million barrels a day of oil and plans to raise output to 3 million barrels a day by 2015.
Nazarbayev said that the current transport infrastructure isn't meeting the growing economy's needs. The oil-driven Kazakh economy has grown at an average rate of 10% in the last few years.

The Kazakh government and independent observers agree that diversification of its export routes are vital if it is to realize its ambition to become a more prominent player in the world's energy and natural resources markets.

Nazarbayev attempted to defuse Russian criticism of his strategy, by inviting Russia to take part in a scheme he outlined last week for a canal linking the Caspian and Black Seas.

"We hear criticism from our Russian colleagues that Kazakhstan is bypassing Russia with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and building a pipeline to China," Nazarbayev said. "But we're looking for (transport) routes that are beneficial for Kazakhstan."

The estimated cost of the project would be $6 billion, he said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin and he have agreed to have experts carry out an economic and environmental feasibility study for the proposed 700-kilometer canal.

Nazarbayev outlined plans to extend an existing oil pipeline by 700 kilometers to enable it to ship oil all the way from the Caspian to western China. He also mentioned a planned Turkmen-Chinese gas pipeline project.

Chevron's executive vice-president for upstream and gas, George Kirkland, said that Kazakhstan's increased oil output would demand economically viable and reliable alternative transport capacities linked to foreign markets. Chevron is the largest foreign investor in Kazakhstan with interests in the Tengiz and Karachaganak oil and gas fields, and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

Eni SpA's (E) chief operating officer for exploration and production, Stefano Kaoin, in turn invited state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas to participate in a planned pipeline running across Turkey from Samsun on the Black Sea to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean, allowing more oil shipments to bypass the Bosphorus bottleneck.

Eni is a major shareholder in the giant Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea, the largest oil find in the last 30 years, which is expected to start production some time after 2010. Technical difficulties with the project have already disappointed original hopes that it could start production by 2008.

Jun 15, 2007