The line will make possible the transport of between 5m and 36m tons of oil a year to Kazakh terminals on the Caspian Sea for its further export to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export pipeline. As for the construction of a subsea oil pipe from Kazakhstan to Baku, Mr Kulekeyeva said a pipeline could be built in as little as 18 months, depending on the 'littoral states' reaching a decision on the status of the Caspian Sea. "The Caspian states have divergent views on how to divide the sea. Iran insists that each of the coastal countries get equal portion of the sea-bed, while most other countries want the division based on shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share" he said.