He believes that Kazakhstan's actions are "absolutely correct when it opens new directions, including oil deliveries to China." "This is adequate and normal work," the Russian minister stressed. "The Chinese gigantic and promising market cannot but attract attention," Mr. Khristenko said.
At the same time he believes that "the prospects of the two countries (Russia and Kazakhstan) in oil and gas production and in transportation should be known to each other and coordinated as far as possible at the first stage." "We will then not have surprises, on the one hand, and on the other ready to any variants of developments," Mr. Khristenko pointed out.
"Today, we are doing prospective work with Kazakhstan as far as the oil and gas balance is concerned, including for the purpose of ensuring clear-cut priorities of the pipeline transportation development promising projects," the Russian minister said.
On Tuesday, September 28, an official ceremony of beginning the construction of the oil pipeline Atasu (Kazakhstan) - Alashankou (China) will take place.
A joint design company "Kazakhstan-China Pipeline" has been created with KazTtransOil, the largest oil transportation company of Kazakhstan and the Chinese National Corporation for the Oil and Gas Prospecting and Development being its founders. These companies have 50% shares of participation each.
According to the design, the oil pipeline Atasu-Alashankou will be built from the Atasu oil pumping station in the Karaganda region (the center of Kazakhstan) to the Alashankou railway station on the territory of China. It will be 988 km long, have 813 mm in diameter, throughput capacity of 10 million metric tons a year at the first stage with the further increase of up to 20 million metric tons at the second stage of the project's realization.
The completion of the construction of the oil pipeline is planned for late 2005, and the commissioning for 2006. Kazakh experts estimate that the consumer demand for oil in the western regions of China in the coming years will exceed the supply, and this tendency will grow. The building of the new oil pipeline Atasu-Alashankou will make it possible for China to receive oil of the Kazakh Caspian region.
"Atasu-Alashankou will be the first export oil pipeline of Kazakhstan which will allow the republic to independently deliver hydrocarbons to the world markets.
