"I believe 7 million tons could be delivered to China via Kazakhstan next year if they [Kazakhstan] resolve the oil viscosity problem," Semyon Vainshtok said.
He said the transit of Kazakh oil via Russia could reach 15 mln tons (110 mln bbl) along the Atyrau-Samara pipeline during the year, and 3 mln tons (22 mln bbl) could be pumped via Makhachkala in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.
However, Vainshtok said these are only preliminary figures, since a protocol to a Russia-Kazakhstan intergovernmental agreement on oil transit has yet to be signed.
The 962.2 km Atasu-Alashankou pipeline is the second part of the Kazakhstan-China inter-state oil transportation project, and has capacity of 20 mln tons (147 mln bbl) a year.
