Pipeliners

07 May 2008 - Upstream OnLine - Russia said today it had lifted its opposition to a plan to double the capacity of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) trunkline from its current level of 32 million tonnes (253 million barrels) to 67 million tonnes (530 million barrels). The Russian Energy Ministry said in a statement Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko and his Kazakh counterpart Sauat Mynbayev had reached an agreement at a meeting in Astana. "A joint position has been agreed on the issue of the CPC expansion, which should take place before 2012 in two stages," Reuters quoted the statement as saying. Once work is complete, the link's capacity would double. Kazakhstan in turn agreed to help fill the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, sending up to 17 million tonnes (134 million barrels) of CPC crude to Alexandroupolis. In December, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Russia will allow CPC to double capacity after years of opposition, but Moscow has never confirmed his statement. Moscow has criticised the project for low returns and said its expansion will add pressure on the congested Turkish Straits as oil is exported mainly to the Mediterranean. Russia, Kazakhstan and Oman hold stakes in CPC, while private shareholders are led by US supermajor Chevron and include BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and Rosneft.