November 28, 2001	Wednesday	Ramazan 12, 1422

MOSCOW, Nov 27: US, Russian and Gulf state oil executives and ministers attended the ceremonial opening on Tuesday of a new oil pipeline that could supply one million tons of oil from Kazakhstan to world markets by the end of the year.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s (CPC) grand opening in southern Russia’s port city of Novorossiisk was attended by senior US and Russian energy ministry officials as well as oil chiefs from Oman and Kazakhstan.

US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who sent a top deputy to Novorossiisk, is further scheduled to hold a series of negotiations concerning the fate of the both the oil project and erratic global energy prices in Moscow this week.

In Novorossiisk, officials mingled with executives from the likes of Russia’s oil major LUKoil and the US number two producer ChevronTexaco, as all involved celebrated a new mood of US-Russia partnership in the competitive energy market that has settled in with the start of the US-led anti-terror campaign.

“We are marking this great event during a period of active cooperation and the development of partnership relations between the US, Russia and Kazakhstan,” the Caspian information agency quoted ChevronTexaco chairman David O’Reily as saying in Novorossiisk.

The CPC, which stretches 1,510-km from Kazakhstan’s giant Tengiz oil field to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, could deliver around one million tons of crude to world markets by the end of the year, the conglomerate said in a statement.

“Th CPC is project that serves as a bright example of successful international cooperation, and demonstrates to the whole global business community that one can confidently invest in Russia and Kazakhstan,” O’Reily said.

The CPC pipeline can currently carry around 28.2 million tons of crude annually, while project coordinators are studying plans to expand its volume to 67 million tons after further work in the coming years.

The governments of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Oman hold 24, 18 and seven per cent stakes in the projects respectively, with the rest of the holding divided amid a large range of private oil groups.

The launch of official inauguration of the 2.3-billion-dollar pipe comes as speculation mounts over Caspian oil and gas wealth, and amid competition among major powers for control over the transportation of resources from the landlocked region.

Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field holds an estimated six million to nine million barrels of oil reserves, and is one of the world’s 10 largest oil fields.

Its establishment also gives Moscow an upper hand over US, Iranian and Chinese attempts to push through other pipeline options that bypass Russia.

In Moscow this week, Abraham will discuss the turbulent situation on world oil markets with Russian government and other CPC officials in Moscow this week.—AFP