Russia, Kazakhstan agree to create working group on boosting oil transit to China - Novak

MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed to create a working group to increase the transit of oil to China through the country's territory, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

The existing contract for oil transit from Russia to China via Kazakhstan was extended earlier, Novak said.

Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed an agreement at the beginning of February to supply 100 million tonnes of crude to oil refineries in northwest China over a period of 10 years until December 31, 2033. The oil will be shipped through Kazakhstan. The agreement signed in 2014 expired in 2022.

The capacity of the existing oil pipeline to China through Kazakhstan is 10 million tonnes. Increasing this to 13-17 million tonnes was discussed a few years ago. This would require expanding the Tuimazy-Omsk-Novosibirsk (TON-2) pipeline.

Russia's Novak and Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar discussed the main projects and potential development of relations in the fuel and energy sector, including production and transportation of oil and natural gas and the electricity sector, at the end of last week.