Atasu-Alashankou pipeline can increase transit of Russian oil to China via Kazakhstan by 8-9 million tonnes - KAZENERGY HeadThe technical capacity of the Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline from Kazakhstan to China allows for an increase in the transportation of Russian oil to China by the previously requested 2.5 million tonnes, and even more, as the pipeline is currently loaded at just over half of its design capacity, Bolat Akchulakov, Chairman of the KAZENERGY oil service association, told Interfax-Kazakhstan."Technically, this is possible because the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline, which connects Kazakhstan and China, has been transporting up to 10 million tonnes of oil in transit annually by mutual agreement with the Russian Federation for several years now. (...) The entire pipeline has a capacity of 20 million tonnes, but it currently handles about 11 million tonnes. Therefore, there is a comfortable reserve capacity of 8-9 million tonnes," Akchulakov told the agency.He emphasized that increasing transit by 2-3 million tonnes is not critical for a pipeline with a 20-million-tonne capacity.Last week, on May 19, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that China had proposed Russia increase oil supplies via Kazakhstan by 2.5 million tonnes per year, and Russia had already expressed readiness. According to him, technological solutions are needed to implement this intention.As later reported by Interfax-Kazakhstan to the Ministry of Energy, Astana and Moscow have already established a working group to study the technical feasibility of increasing Russian oil supplies to China via Kazakhstan.Supplies of Kazakh oil and the transit of Russian oil to China are handled by the Kazakh-Chinese joint venture Kazakhstan-China Pipeline LLP (owned by KazTransOil JSC (50%) and China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC) (50%). The company transports oil via the Kenkiyak-Kumkol and Atasu-Alashankou trunk oil pipelines from fields in Western Kazakhstan to China. Russian oil is transported via the Atasu-Alashankou section. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX