ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 7. Kazakhstan plans to increase oil transportation along the Trans-Caspian route to 20 million tons per year, Trend reports.
The matter is outlined in the National Development Plan of Kazakhstan until 2029, approved by the country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
"It's planned to increase Trans-Caspian oil transportation within the existing capacities of the Aktau port (up to seven million tons per year) in the medium term.
The possibility of implementing projects for the construction of the Eskene-Kuryk pipeline, marine terminals on the Kazakh and Azerbaijani shores of the Caspian Sea, as well as a special large-tonnage tanker fleet, will also be considered to further increase Trans-Caspian transport to 20 million tons per year and beyond," the document reads.
Besides, the document points out that "the middle international transport corridor across the Caspian Sea is a key additional export route."
“Starting in 2024, the import of Kazakh oil through the Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline will also be increased to two million tons per year. The need to expand the capacity of the Atyrau-Kenkiyak and Kenkiyak-Kumkol supply oil pipelines will be considered amid a further increase in supplies,” the document emphasizes.
To note, Kazakhstan transported 1.39 million tons of oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline last year, which is 5.5 times more compared to 2022. In particular.
In 2022, the President of Kazakhstan, Tokayev, ordered an increase in the volume of oil transportation along the Trans-Caspian corridor. In accordance with this instruction, JSC NC KazMunayGas and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) entered into an agreement providing for the transportation of 1.5 million tons of oil per year from the Tengiz field in the direction of the BTC pipeline.
During Tokayev's visit to Azerbaijan on March 11–12, KazMunayGas and SOCAR signed an agreement to increase the volume of oil transportation via the BTC to 2.2 million tons per year.