Kazakhs discuss involvement in BTC pipeline

April 19, 2005
A delegation of Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGaz has arrived in Baku for talks on transporting Kazakh crude oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, Apr. 19 -- A delegation of Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGaz has arrived in Baku for talks on transporting Kazakh crude oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

In discussions at the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic [SOCAR], representatives of KazMunayGaz and the BTC Co were to discuss a draft agreement between the two sides for Kazakhstan's involvement in the pipeline.

The BTC pipeline is being developed by an international consortium of 11 partners, known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Co. (BTC Co).

BTC Co. partners include SOCAR, BP, TPAO of Turkey, Statoil, Unocal, Itochu, Amerada Hess, Eni, Total, INPEX, and ConocoPhillips.

The BTC pipeline, currently configured to carry 1 million b/d of Azeri crude, will require expansion to accommodate an additional 1 million b/d of Kazakh crude, according to SOCAR President Natiq Aliyev.

He said Kazakhstan plans to ship some 500,000 b/d of oil via the Aktau-Baku route in 2010 and will subsequently double that figure.

A 700-km pipeline in Kazakhstan and maritime terminals in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are to be built, Aliyev said.