Kazakhstan asks for help from the US to export gas and oil after the closure of the CPC
The president of Kazakhstan has requested the assistance of US companies for the development of the country's energy resources, in order to consolidate the oil export routes that bypass Russia. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed on July 7, two days after a Russian court decided to stop operations on a pipeline that Kazakhstan uses to export most of its oil. The pipeline is located in western Kazakhstan and reaches a terminal on the Black Sea within Russia.
Tokayev said he sees the transportation of oil across the Caspian Sea as the most promising alternative.
" I have instructed [the state oil and gas company] KazMunaiGaz to study the best option for carrying out this project, including through the involvement of investors in the Tengiz project ," he told officials.
Tengiz, a field located in western Kazakhstan, is developed by Tengizchevroil, a joint venture controlled 50% by the US major Chevron and 25% by its US counterpart ExxonMobil. KazMunaiGaz owns another 20%.
Tokayev did not specifically mention Russia in his remarks, although the timing of this new order to upgrade Caspian export routes is an unambiguous allusion to recent CPC pipeline developments.
In a July 5 ruling, the Primorsky District Court in the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk ruled that the CPC, jointly owned by a large assortment of international companies, allegedly committed environmental violations. The court ordered the pipeline to remain inactive for one month. Last year the CPC route transported some 53-54 million tons of oil to Novorossiysk.
Some analysts have interpreted this ruling as an attempt by Moscow to pressure Nur-Sultan to provide Russia with relief from Western sanctions. Instead, Kazakhstan has acted in ways that Russia might perceive as unfriendly.
In a telephone conversation with EU Council President Charles Michel on 4 July, Tokayev pledged to make available "Kazakhstan's hydrocarbon potential to stabilize the situation on global and European [energy] markets". The need for this type of aid has become particularly acute since the end of May, when the countries of the European Union agreed to "effectively cut about 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year". The closure of the CPC is easily correlated with these talks and with the offer of assistance to the EU.
On 7 July Tokayev also instructed the government to take measures to increase the capacity of the Atyrau-Kenkiyak and Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipelines. These routes are designed to transport crude oil from fields in the west of the country eastwards towards China.
During the last long period that the CPC was not available – in April, following a period when the oil loading facilities in Novorossiysk were allegedly rendered unusable by storm damage – significant quantities of crude been redirected east. Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov revealed that in April 561,000 tonnes of oil that should have been transported through the CPC pipeline were being sent along alternative routes, presumably via tankers.
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The article Kazakhstan asks for help from the US to export gas and oil after the closure of the CPC comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-kazakistan-chiede-aiuto-agli-usa-per-esportare-gas-e-petrolio-dopo-la-chiusura-del-cpc/ on Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:00:12 +0000.