Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 5 -- US Assistant Sec. of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Daniel Sullivan has arrived in Kazakhstan with a delegation to discuss diversifying the country's oil and gas export routes.
"Various alternatives for the export of Kazakh oil and gas is one of the issues which we will discuss," Sullivan told a news conference on Feb. 5, adding that Kazakhstan currently exports 100% of its gas and 90% of its oil through Russia.
He said the issue of transport routes is being raised at the moment because the existing ones via Russia are full and do not allow for expansion to accommodate the additional volumes expected from increased Kazakh production.
To promote the country's export potential, Sullivan underlined the idea of Kazakhstan joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude pipeline as well the proposed Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project.
In addition to Kazakhstan, the delegation led by Sullivan also will visit Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia before traveling to France to take part in a conference on energy issues in the Caspian region.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
