Page 10 - EurOil Week 03 2023

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

Kazakhstan to send oil to Germany via

Russian pipeline

KAZAKHSTAN KAZAKHSTAN has secured approval from of Russian oil related to material transported
Russia to use its pipeline infrastructure to trans- by sea, but they do not prevent third countries
Kazakhstan is providing port 300,000 tonnes of oil to buyers in Germany from using Russian infrastructure to get their
a replacement to lost in the first quarter of this year, a state-run com- commodity onto the European market.
Russian oil in Germany. pany announced on January 13. Much of the talk last year was about how
Kaztransoil, a state-owned oil transportation Kazakhstan was exploring export routes that
company, said in its statement that oil sourced avoided Russia altogether. Key to this was the
from the Karachaganak field in western Kazakh- so-called Middle Corridor, which entails load-
stan will be pumped through Russia’s Druzhba ing oil onto tankers that would then cross the
pipeline and be delivered to Poland via Belarus Caspian Sea before unloading crude onto freight
before reaching Germany. transport travelling through Azerbaijan, Geor-
Deliveries in January will amount to 20,000 gia and Turkey. This route is still limited in scope
tonnes. and far costlier than using Russian routes.
Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov If Russia has agreed to this arrangement, it is
recently told reporters that Kazakhstan planned unlikely as a favour to Kazakhstan.
to export 1.5mn tonnes to Germany via Russia As Nurlan Zhumagulov, head of the Energy
in 2023, but that this volume could be ramped Monitor analytical website, speculated in a post
up to 7mn tonnes. on Facebook in December, Kazakhstan may look
“There is enough capacity [in the pipeline to import an amount of oil from Russia com-
system]. The main thing is the consumers [from mensurate to the amount it is sending to Europe.
Germany] to take it. We have never had major That crude could be sent to domestic refineries,
problems with Russia in terms of pumping,” Zhumagulov wrote.
Akchulakov said earlier this year. “It [would be] an ideal model that satisfies
Approval from Russia was far from guaran- everyone – Russia, Kazakhstan and Germany,”
teed, though. The oil that Germany is buying Zhumagulov wrote.
from Kazakhstan is intended to partially make What is more, Kazakhstan has a trump card.
up for the shortfall of crude deliveries precipi- In December, it reached an intergovernmental
tated by a boycott on Russian products imposed agreement with Russia valid until 2034 on allow-
following the start to the invasion of Ukraine. ing its territory to be used for the transit of oil to
And the amount Kazakhstan is supplying China. Since China has now emerged as one of
falls far short of the 20mn tonnes per year that Russia’s most important oil customers, Kazakh-
Russia used to sell Germany. stan has thus earned leverage for deployment in
European Union restrictions on the supply its own energy trading deals with the West. ™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 20•January•2023