28 Jul 2022 20:24

Shell, partners working on alternative routes for exporting oil from Kazakhstan besides CPC - CFO

MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - Shell (SPB: RDS.A) is working with partners on alternative routes for oil exports from Kazakhstan, CFO Sinead Gorman said at a press conference.

"The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is now operational, but we are also looking at many alternative routes. We are working with our partners and governments to make sure the 'molecules' go where they are needed," Gorman said.

As previously reported, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in early July instructed KazMunayGas to work out the best options for implementing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) in order to diversify supplies of Kazakh oil.

TITR is an international transport corridor that runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and further to Turkey and European countries. The commissioned Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is part of the corridor.

The current main export route for Kazakh oil is the CPC system that accounts for more than 80% of the volumes pumped through the pipeline. The pipeline has capacity of 67 million tonnes of oil per year.

The need to develop an alternative route for oil exports in Kazakhstan was discussed after reports of a possible suspension in operations at the CPC marine terminal as per the recent court decision on eliminating violations of environmental legislation. This was preceded by restrictions on the operation of the single point moorings (SPM) in connection with the survey of the water area for the presence of explosive devices, though the measures did not affect fulfilling the unloading schedule at the CPC. There was also a halt in shipments for nearly a month from the CPC's SPM in March owing to the consequences of a storm.