By the OGJ Online Staff
WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 20 -- US Energy Sec. Spencer Abraham will represent the US in a ceremony celebrating the completion of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline on Nov. 27 in Novorossiysk, Russia.
DOE officials said Tuesday the pipeline marked "a major achievement in the development of our energy relationship with Russia."
The agency's announcement comes one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited President George W. Bush for a series of talks.
The $2.5 billion CPC pipeline and related facilities represent a key investment for eight multinational oil companies -- including ChevronTexaco Corp. and ExxonMobil Corp. The pipeline links Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
Companies with Caspian investments are still looking at a related export pipeline proposal endorsed by the US government that would take crude from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
Oil companies say other routes are shorter and cost less money, including through southern Iran. But the US relationship with Iran is problematic, so discussions on that pipeline route remain ongoing. Abraham is expected to touch on that issue while in Russia, although US officials would not confirm specifics of what will be discussed.
While overseas, Abraham will meet with the Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyanstev. He will stop in Vienna to meet with International Atomic Energy Association officials and speak to the IAEA Board of Governors on Nov. 30.
The Department of Energy did not say if Abraham would meet with officials of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries while in Vienna. The cartel has been urging Russia, a non-OPEC member, to support new oil production cuts.
