No alternative to CPC pipeline for Kazakhstan, other routes are supplementary - minister

ALMATY. May 29 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan views the Caspian Pipeline Consortium as its primary oil export route to global markets, with all other routes serving only as supplementary options, Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov told reporters Friday.

"Our colleagues in the media have been misinterpreting information about Kazakhstan considering alternative routes. The correct term would be additional routes," Akkenzhenov said.

"At the moment, the CPC can transport 82 million tonnes of oil. There is no alternative to this pipeline today," he added

No other pipeline exists that could transport such volumes from Kazakhstan to global markets, the minister said.

"So all we are talking about here are additional routes. We are considering any of them," he said.

Akkenzhenov noted that Kazakhstan currently uses three additional routes: the Kazakhstan-China pipeline, shipments across the Caspian Sea via Azerbaijan, and the Aktau-Makhachkala route.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium connects oil fields in western Kazakhstan and Russian fields on the Caspian shelf to a marine terminal at Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. The pipeline spans 1,500 kilometers and is the main export route for Kazakh oil, accounting for more than 80% of the volumes pumped from Kazakhstan. The CPC can transport about 72.5 million tonnes of oil per year from Kazakh territory and up to 83 million tonnes per year through Russia.

Shareholders in the CPC include Russia (31% - 24% managed by Transneft and 7% on the state's balance sheet), Kazakhstan (20.75% - 19% held by KazMunayGas and 1.75% by Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures LLC), Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company (15%), Lukoil International GmbH (12.5%), Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company (7.5%), Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures Limited (7.5%), BG Overseas Holding Limited (2%), Eni International N.A. N.V. (2%) and Oryx Caspian Pipeline LLC (1.75%).