§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make an assessment of the Russian-Kazakhstani pipeline schemes for the Caspian oil fields; and if she will make a statement. [19767]
§ Mr. WilsonKazakhstan is the second largest oil producer (after Russia) among the former Soviet republics and is committed to the development of multiple oil pipelines from the country to international markets. Currently, Kazakhstan sends the majority of its oil exports via Russia using three main existing pipelines:
- (i) the 691 km pipeline from Atyrau in Kazakhstan to Samara in Russia, capacity of which is being increased to c.300,000 barrels per day (bbl/d);
- (ii) the Kenkyak-Orsk (Russia) pipeline, which transports oil from the Aktyubinsk fields in western Kazakhstan to the Orsk refinery in Russia, capacity of which is c.130,000 bbl/d, and;
- (iii) the 1,580 km Tengiz-Novorossiisk (Russia) pipeline, which was officially opened recently on 27 November. This pipeline has an initial capacity of c.600,000 bbl/d, which could eventually be increased to 1.3 to 1.5 million bbl/d.
These pipelines, and other projects in the Caspian region which do not involve Russia, help to provide more diverse regions of world oil supply.