Kazakhstan affirms interest in BTC exports
Transporting Kazakhstan`s oil through the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline pumping Caspian crude to world
markets fully meets Astana`s interests, Serik Primbetov, the
country`s ambassador to Azerbaijan, has said.
Primbetov told a Baku-based TV channel that the volume of Kazakhstan`s oil transported via the conduit would soon be increased.
"Oil extracted from the Tengiz field is already reaching the West through the BTC. However, this does not yet amount to the notion of Kazakhstan`s joining the BTC. To realize this project, the required infrastructure should be created on the Kazakh shores of the Caspian Sea," he said, adding that upgrade work had already begun at the Kurik seaport in the south of Aktau.
The seaport will have the capacity to receive 60,000-ton tankers. In addition to that, a pipeline will be built to link Kurik with the region where oil wells are located. Only after this work has been completed will Kazakhstan be considered to have joined the BTC project, Primbetov said.
Kazakhstan`s highest contribution to the project is predicted to occur in 2013-2014 when full-scale development of its giant Kashagan field begins.
The BTC line-fill began in May 2005. The 1,768 km pipe pumps oil produced from Azerbaijan`s Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
Primbetov told a Baku-based TV channel that the volume of Kazakhstan`s oil transported via the conduit would soon be increased.
"Oil extracted from the Tengiz field is already reaching the West through the BTC. However, this does not yet amount to the notion of Kazakhstan`s joining the BTC. To realize this project, the required infrastructure should be created on the Kazakh shores of the Caspian Sea," he said, adding that upgrade work had already begun at the Kurik seaport in the south of Aktau.
The seaport will have the capacity to receive 60,000-ton tankers. In addition to that, a pipeline will be built to link Kurik with the region where oil wells are located. Only after this work has been completed will Kazakhstan be considered to have joined the BTC project, Primbetov said.
Kazakhstan`s highest contribution to the project is predicted to occur in 2013-2014 when full-scale development of its giant Kashagan field begins.
The BTC line-fill began in May 2005. The 1,768 km pipe pumps oil produced from Azerbaijan`s Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
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