ASTANA, April 18. /TASS/. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan does not see a full-fledged alternative to the oil export route through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (KTP), the ministry's press service reported.
Earlier, the press service of the Ministry of Energy reported that KTC is making every effort to maintain the delivery schedule of Kazakh oil for export during the floods in the Atyrau region.
"Today, in the short term, there is no full-fledged alternative to replace the CTC export route, because of the total export volume of 70.5 million tons on the CTC route, exports amount to 56, 6 million tons, or 80%”, explained the Ministry of Energy.
At the same time, it was noted that as part of the implementation of the head of state's order to develop additional export routes, a working group was created to develop the Trans-Caspian international transport route with the participation of interested state bodies and companies. Thus, in June 2023, the Kazakh company Kazmunaigas (KMG) and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation for the transit of Kazakh oil through the territory of Azerbaijan. The parties agreed to transport Kazakh oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the amount of 1.5 million tons per year.
„The issue is being discussed with the Azerbaijani side to consider the possibility of transporting Kazakh oil through the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline in a volume of up to 5 million tons per year. In March 2024, an agreement was signed between KMG and SOCAR to gradually increase the volume of transit of Kazakh oil through the Republic of Azerbaijan. After the negotiations, the Azerbaijani side expressed readiness to increase the volume of Kazakhstani oil received to 2.2 million tons per year”, the press service explained.
In addition, the department recalled the agreements between Kazakhstan and the German and Russian countries for the transportation of Kazakh oil through the system of Transneft PJSC. in Germany. “The parties agreed on the technical possibility of transporting Kazakh oil through the Druzhba system until 2024” in the direction of the Shwedt oil refinery in the same volumes up to 1.2 million tons per year”, the ministry states.
KTK is a pipeline system connecting Kazakhstan to a seaport near Novorossiysk, where oil is loaded onto tankers for shipment to global markets. The length of the pipeline connecting the oil fields of Western Kazakhstan with the marine terminal in Novorossiysk is 1,511 km. The KTC marine terminal is equipped with remote mooring facilities that allow safe loading of tankers at a considerable distance from the shore, including in adverse weather conditions.