Pipeliners

MOSCOW, March 14 (RIA Novosti) - Stockholders of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium plan to finish drafting the memorandum on mutual understanding in early April, Kazakhstan's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Vladimir Shkolnik told journalists on Monday. "It means that only technical issues will remain," Mr. Shkolnik said. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium was established in 1992 by the governments of Kazakhstan, Russia and Oman to construct and use the 1,580-km export oil pipeline from the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan to the port of Novorossiisk (Russia's Black Sea coast). The maximum annual capacity of the pipeline is 67 million tons of oil. Russia accounts for 24% of the consortium's stock, Kazakhstan for 19% and Oman - 7%. The remaining 50% belong to US companies Chevron (15%), Mobil Oil (7.5%) and Oryx (1,75%), the Russian-US joint venture LUKArco (12.5%), the Russian-British joint venture Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures (7.5%), UK's British Gas (2%), Italian Agip (2%) and Kazakhstan Pipeline (1.75%).