Ukraine, Kazakhstan agree to increase Kazakh oil transit.

.

14/9 Tass 356

KIEV, September 14 (Itar-Tass) - The Presidents of Ukraine and
Kazakhstan, Viktor Yanukovich and Nursultan Nazarbayev, have reached an
agreement on increasing the volume of pumping of Kazakh oil through the
Ukrainian territory.
"We agreed that we will increase the volume of Kazakh oil transit via
Ukraine by 8 million tonnes. And a certain part of this volume may be
transferred to Ukrainian oil refineries. We are preparing a separate
agreement for this," the Ukrainian leader said at a joint press conference
with the president of Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Nazarbayev noted for his part that the bans on the oil transportation
have been lifted. "We have agreed on increasing the volume of oil
transportation and also natural gas in the future, as well as on the
participation of Ukrainian companies in the prospecting of natural gas
fields in Kazakhstan. The ministries and departments are engaged in the
concrete work," Nazarbayev said. Kazakhstan stopped shipping oil through
Ukraine in January this year because of a dispute over transit prices.
Full development of its major oilfields could make Kazakhstan one of
the world's top five oil producers in the next decade, according to the US
Energy Information Administration. With production of 1.43 million barrels
per day (bbl/d) in 2008, Kazakhstan is already a major producer, and
planned further development of its giant Tengiz and Karachaganak fields is
expected to add 1.5 million bbl/d by 2014. Kazakhstan's sector of the
Caspian Sea is believed to hold several other major oil and natural gas
deposits as yet unexploited, including the giant Kashagan oil field.
-0-ezh