Astana, Baku agree cooperation on new oil routes

Kazakhstan, planning to double its oil output over the next decade, agreed with Azerbaijan on Friday on the delivery of extra crude to the Black Sea and beyond.

Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas [KMG.UL] and Azeri state oil firm SOCAR signed three accords to cooperate on delivering extra Kazakh oil from the giant Kashagan field via Azeri infrastructure from 2012, under the Transcaspian project.

Central Asia's largest oil producer plans to double its oil output to 150 million tonnes a year within the next decade, largely thanks to the Kashagan field, the world's biggest oil find in the last 30 years.

The accords, signed during a visit to Baku by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, envisage shipments of Kazakh crude from Baku by rail to Georgia's Black Sea ports of Batumi and Kulevi, as well as through the existing Baku-Supsa pipeline.

Kazakhstan already ships some of its output by tankers across the Caspian Sea to Baku, where it is fed into the Baku-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa pipelines.

Russia is the main transit country for Kazakh crude, but smaller volumes also move to the Caucasus and China.

Members of the Kashagan project Eni (ENI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Inpex (1605.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) have already expressed their interest in the Transcaspian project. (Writing by Margarita Antidze)

Reuters