US oil major Chevron has agreed with the Kazakhstan government to continue planning a new domestic oil pipeline that will form part of a $3-billion project to link Caspian oil deposits with international markets. Kazakhstan currently exports most of its oil through Russia, but is understood recently to have caused concern to the Russian government by announcing plans to build more pipelines and diversify exports toward Western Europe.
The new pipeline, to be built along Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea coastline, was discussed at a meeting between senior Chevron officials and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. "It is very important that we reached agreement with Chevron," Mr Nazarbayev told reporters in Atyrau after the talks.
The 750-km, $1.5-bn, pipeline is due to feed oil from Kazakhstan's biggest oilfield ¬¬– Tengiz, developed by a Chevron-led group, and Kashagan, which has yet to start production – into the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
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