President Tokayev believes that the CPC can boost oil exports by 20% in 2024

According to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the capacity of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) will be increased to 80 million tons of oil per year by 2024.

«Since 2001, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium has exported more than 860 million tons of Kazakhstani oil. During this period, the capacity of the CPC has increased 2.5 times and reached 67 million tons a year. We are going to boost this rate to 80 million tons by 2024,» he said during a ceremony for the 30th anniversary of the presence of Shell in Kazakhstan.

As Tokayev noted, the country needs not only more oil output but also more infrastructure to transport oil to global markets. He also recalled that transnational oil giants like Chevron, Eni, Shell and Lukoil were behind the construction of the CPC.

According to the president, the presence of big international companies in Kazakhstan shows its investment attractiveness thanks to the stability of legislation designed for the protection of the rights and interests of investors.

Over the first nine months of 2023, the CPC has boosted the export of oil to 45.3 million tons, a 9.2% increase over the same period last year, the company reported. This year the CPC plans to export 61 million tons of oil. (Earlier this year, the company reported that oil companies wanted it to export 67 million tons) In 2024, the company is expecting an influx of «big oil» from Tengiz, according to CEO of the CPC Nikolay Gorban.

On April 5, Kairgeldy Kabyldin, deputy head of the CPC for government relations, said that the company received requests for exporting 66 million tons of oil this year (62.5 million tons in 2022).

About 29 million tons are expected to be shipped from Tengiz, 11 million from Karachaganak and 15 million from Kashagan.

According to representatives of the CPC in Kazakhstan, the current capacity of the pipeline (its Kazakhstani part) is 72.5 million tons per year, while its capacity in Russia can reach 83 million tons if special lubricants that facilitate oil flow in the pipeline are applied. Under a program aimed at removing bottlenecks on the pipeline, the CPC has built additional facilities at the Tengiz and Astrakhanskaya oil pumping stations which allowed the company to accept more oil from oil producers. For example, two reservoirs of 20,000 tons each were expected to be deployed at the Tengiz oil pumping stations in addition to the existing four reservoirs in June. As a result, the station can accept up to 120,000 tons of oil.

In 2022, the CPC exported 58.7 million tons of oil, including 52.2 million tons from Kazakhstan, a 3.3% decrease over the same period of 2021. In 2023, the consortium said that it was ready to export a bigger amount of oil from Kazakhstan. The vast majority of oil the CPC has been exporting was provided by the largest oil fields in Kazakhstan: 29 million tons of oil from Tengiz, 12 million from Kashagan and 10 million from Karachaganak. The shipment process at the CPC’s sea terminal involved 527 tankers.

In 2021, the company exported 60.73 million tons, including 26.58 million from Tengiz, 15.74 million from Kashagan and 10.29 million from Karachaganak. In total, Kazakhstan exported 53.07 million tons of oil via the CPC in 2021.

The oil pipeline that stretches from Tengiz to Novorossiysk is 1,511 kilometers in length. This is a key export route for Kazakhstani oil and oil produced by Russian companies near the Caspian Sea. The sea terminal of the CPC is equipped with three single mooring points designed for loading sea tankers with oil away from the shore.

Among the CPC shareholders are: Transneft (representing the interests of the Russian government) (24%), the CPC Company (7%), KazMunayGas (19%), Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures LLC (1.75%), Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company (15%), LUKARCO B.V. (12.5%), Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company (7.5%), Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures Limited (7.5%), BG Overseas Holdings Limited (2%), Eni International N.A. N.V. S.ar.l. (2%) and Oryx Caspian Pipeline LLC (1.75%).