Kazakhstan Sets Up Oil Export Venture In Georgia
September 22, 2006 -- The Kazakh state-owned oil company KazMunaiGaz today announced that one of its subsidiaries, KazTransOil, will establish a joint venture in Georgia to ensure "steady exports" of Kazakh crude oil through the Black Sea.
Its Georgian partner will be Batumi Oil Terminal, a privately owned company.
Batumi is a traditional conduit for crude oil from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.
(Kazakhstan Today, Interfax-Kazakhstan)
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Russia's rising appetite for Central Asian gas is a direct result of the shifting fortunes of Gazprom, the state-run Russian company that controls lucrative exports. The company's total gas production has flatlined at around 550 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year. With major fields yielding less as they age, Gazprom has chosen to maintain its all-important gas balance by purchasing gas on the side -- from independent producers in Russia and from Russia's Central Asian neighbors -- instead of investing in the lengthy and costly development of untapped Arctic fields...(more)
See also:
Who's Afraid Of Gazprom? Controlling Gas Pipelines