Kazakhstan plans to increase transit and export of gas

/REUTERS, Astana, Raushan Nurshaeva, July 11, 02/ - Kazakhstan is about to increase transit of Turkmen and Uzbek gas, having invested $500m to 2005 to modernization of gas pipeline, and also is intends to increase export of extracted gas through Russia in the framework of creating JV with Gazprom. Kazakhstan is the main oil producer in Central Asia, however only this year it enters world market with its own gas. At that Turkmeniya - the largest gas producer in the region - supplies the Ukraine and Russia with gas by transit through Kazakhstan. Each year approximately 40bn cubic meters of Turkmen gas are transported through pipeline Central Asia - Center and little volumes of Uzbek gas (about 3bn cubic meters). Last year capacity of the line was increased to 50bn from 43bn cubic meters a year, and Kazakhstan state company Kazmunaigaz plans to advance it. "Main source of reconstruction financing - is transit payments, which are made by the companies due to transit of Uzbek, Turkmen and Russian gas through the territory of Kazakhstan", - said Timur Kulibayev, the first vice- president of Kazmunaigaz, to journalists on Thursday. According to his words, this year the same amount will be expensed on major repairs as it was last year - $150m. Kulibayev said that Kazmunaigaz developed the reconstruction program jointly with Gazprom specialists. "Gas pipelines, as you know, are in rather difficult condition and require large financingЕ We hope that we will carry out the program successfully', - said he. Gazprom, in its turn, is interested in growth of transportation from Turkmeniya and Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan - above all, to CIS countries and Russia. Russian company, which is the largest gas supplier to Europe, repeatedly said about expecting deficit of gas in Russia. At the same time low solvency of neighbors in CIS due to long-term contracts with European consumers and expensiveness of new fields development in Russia incites Gazprom to substitution of own supply for gas from Central Asia. On the other hand, Kazakhstan wants to increase a transit through Russia, as development of perspective fields at Caspiy shelf might bring the country to one of the largest gas producers. At present Kazakhstan sells to Russia about 1bn cubic meters each year, but Gazprom had already agreed to let it go to the West Deputy chairman of the Board of Gazprom Yuri Komarov said to journalists on Thursday that company plans to export 3.5-4.0bn cubic meters of gas from Kazakhstan. Generally this is gas extracted on Karachaganak field. To 2004 volumes of gas transportation can reach to about 6.0bn cubic meters, added Komarov. He did not excluded a possibility that KazRosGaz might export gas, extracted on other sites, in particular, on the giant field Tengiz in the West Kazakhstan. "Without any doubts, the company (KazRosGaz) will expand its activity, incuding such directions as operating unctions on gas transportation on the territory of Kazakhstan", - said Komarov. According to his words, authorized capital of the registered in Kazakhstan JV totals about KZT15m (about $100,000), Gazprom and KazMunaiGaz own it on parity basis. [2002-07-11]