Kazakhstan To Join BTC Pipeline

(RFE/RL)

June 8, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has said Astana will sign an agreement with Azerbaijan this month to pump Kazakh-produced oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.

Speaking at an investment conference in Almaty today, Nazarbaev suggested the deal would be signed on the sidelines of a summit of the Council on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, scheduled for June 17 in the Kazakh commercial capital.

Kazakh officials have said the country could ship up to 30 million tons of oil yearly through the U.S.-backed pipeline. The $4 billion pipeline bypasses Russia, carrying Caspian oil to Western markets via Georgia and Turkey.

(with material from AP, AFP, Interfax)