Kazakhstan keen on transporting hydrocarbons to India
By Vusala Abbasova
Kazakhstan intends to supply hydrocarbons and to facilitate the transit of Russian oil and gas to India, according to KazTransOil JSC General Director Kairgeldy Kabyldin.
In his statement at a panel session at the 10th Kazenergy international energy forum, Kabyldin mentioned that currently the directions of oil and gas flow are being transformed.
If earlier the primary destination for oil and gas was Europe and the Baltic and Black seas, now flows are being reoriented to the east.
Kabyldin added that Russia’s oil and gas today are flowing to markets in the Pacific and China, as Kazakhstan has taken the role of a transit country for Russian oil and Turkmen gas to China.
He also noted that India is assumed to be the main driver of growth in consumption in the region, adding that forecasts say India’s oil and gas consumption rate will grow by three percent per year.
Kazakhstan has two huge buyers -- China and India -- situated not far from the country.
“We have already reached China," Kabyldin said. In his opinion, the country has to solve only 2,500 kilometers distance to reach India, what is possible to realize.
He expects that many experts will say that the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose risks for transit.
But he believes that the oil and gas pipelines will be a kind of elements of international stability, which will quickly resolve the conflicts.
"And I think that the direction to India is a strategic necessity for development,” Kabyldin said. “I believe that it will be implemented. Of course, the question is when and by whom. But it will be in demand by the world community to supply primarily Caspian and Russian oil and gas to the markets of the Indian Ocean."
Kabyldin proposes to consider the project on the Indian direction "for the strategic objectives, the strategic planning".
"At present, the West Siberian Basin has the Omsk-Pavlodar-Shymkent oil pipeline with a capacity up to 25 million metric tons,” he recalled. “As of today, it is not fully loaded. There is the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline with a capacity up to 20 million metric tons. It is not fully loaded either. That is, at present, the infrastructure is on the boundaries towards India."
Kabyldin said that namely the diversification of opportunities
for oil and gas supplies to international markets will be one of
the strategic vectors of activities of KazMunaiGas national company
and KazTransOil national operator for oil transportation.
Today, Kazakhstan has both the scientific and technical potential
for implementing such large projects, he said.
“If you remember, when we were talking about the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline in early 2000s, some experts stated that it is a dream which will never come true,” said Kabyldin.
“But today, Kazakhstan’s oil and gas is delivered to the Chinese market and shows that Kazakhstan will be needed for transiting hydrocarbon materials from West Siberia and well as from the Caspian Sea to Asia,” he added.
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