Kazakhstan ready to increase BTC oil shipments to 2.2 mln tonnes per year

Kazakhstan is ready to increase oil shipments through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from the current 1.5 million tonnes to 2.2 million tonnes per year, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said.

Akkenzhenov said Kazakhstan was considering all available export routes for its crude oil, although no official talks had been held so far regarding the Baku-Supsa route.

“Shipments of 1.5 million tonnes per year are planned. We are ready to increase these volumes,” Akkenzhenov told reporters on the sidelines of Baku Energy Week.

Asked how much Kazakhstan could raise supplies through BTC, the minister said volumes could be increased to 2.2 million tonnes under existing protocols.

“We can increase shipments to 2.2 million tonnes specified in the protocol, and even beyond that,” he said.

Akkenzhenov added that Kazakhstan has the technical capacity to transport up to 7 million tonnes of oil annually through the port of Aktau towards the BTC route.

Commenting on supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, the minister said current restrictions were linked to technical factors beyond Kazakhstan’s control.

“Kazakhstan is technically ready to pump oil. Everything depends on our partners,” he said.

According to Akkenzhenov, the constraints are mainly related to infrastructure limitations at Germany’s Rostock port.

The minister also said Kazakhstan fully met its oil production targets in May.

N.Tebrizli