Kazakhstan still hoping for acceptable BTC pipeline charges for Tengiz oil
ASTANA. April 5 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan has not abandoned hopes for an agreement on an acceptable price for the pumping of oil from the Tengiz deposit in Atyrau Region of western Kazakhstan, which Tengizchevroil is working, through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.
"We would really be interested in transporting Tengiz oil through Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. Transportation has fallen off in recent years for sure, but that is due to the tariff for BTC transportation rising. It was $4, now it is $5.5 per barrel. Negotiations are underway. If success is achieved with an acceptable pumping tariff, we'll be happy to make use of the opportunity," the head of Kazakhstan's national welfare fund Samruk-Kazyna, Umirzak Shukeyev, told reporters in Astana on Thursday.
At the beginning of last year, the chief of national company KazMunayGas Kairgeldy Kabyldin said that Kazakhstan was prepared to resume transiting oil from the Tengiz deposit thorough the BTC pipeline if agreement on an acceptable transport charge could be secured. He said that about 100,000 tonnes of Tengiz oil was moved in 2009, but pipeline shareholders later hiked the cost for Kazakhstan as a non-shareholders.
Tengizchevroil is engaged in development of the Tengiz and Korolyov oil and gas fields in Atyrau Region (west Kazakhstan). It is owned by American ChevronTexaco Overseas (50%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc. (25%), Kazakhstan through the national company KazMunayGas (20%) and Russian-American JV LUKArco (5%). The company has been operating since 1993.
Kazakhstan is working on the creation of the Kazakhstan-Caspian Transportation System (KCTS) for oil.
The KCTS is aimed at exporting the growing volumes of Kazakh oil produced primarily at the Kashagan field to international markets via the East-West energy corridor along the route Eskene-Kuryk-Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. The oil will be transported through the future Eskene-Kuryk pipeline on the Kazakh Caspian coast to an oil terminal from which tankers will sail to Azerbaijan for the oil's further transport through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Initially the Kazakh Caspian transportation system is expected to be supplying 25 million tons of oil a year through BTC to the global markets, its capacity will later be increased to 38 million tons a year.
According to KazMunayGas estimates, the total cost of the KCTS project could run to $4 billion. The project is to be financed with outside investment.
