Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 34 2022

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

energy in Kazakhstan. The focus is on wind and increasingly difficult for Kazakhstan to con-
solar. tinue exporting hydrocarbons to the West via
There is no firm data on Chinese-linked channels like CPC. This creates an additional
renewable energy projects, but going by media opportunity for Kazakhstan to export its oil and
reports, at least four such undertakings have gas to China,” Kate Watters, executive director
already been launched in Kazakhstan and of Crude Accountability, an environmental and
another 15, collectively worth around $5.2bn, human rights watchdog, told Eurasianet.
are in the works. Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov earlier this
Russia’s mounting pariah status and often month announced plans to expand the annual
seemingly erratic behaviour following its inva- capacity of the oil pipeline system to China by
sion of Ukraine has added a new dimension to 8.5mn tonnes, around 70%, over the coming
the Sino-Kazakh energy cooperation dynamic. year.
In early July, a court in southern Russia ruled Ironically, although this option looks like a
to suspend operations on the westward-bound means toward minimising dependence on Rus-
Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route that sia, the added capacity may be used to serve the
Kazakhstan uses to export the vast bulk of its interests of accommodating an eastward turn by
oil. That suspension was quickly rescinded, but Russia’s own oil companies.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev around that When Russian President Vladimir Putin
time nevertheless appealed for assistance from visited Beijing in February, just weeks before
US companies developing his country’s energy embarking on the military assault on Ukraine,
resources to help consolidate oil export routes state-owned Rosneft signed a 10-year agreement
circumventing Russia. (On August 22, opera- to supply 100mn tonnes of oil to CNPC-con-
tions at the pipeline were again interrupted.) trolled refineries in northwest China. All the oil
That will take time, however. Boosting east- will be pumped through Kazakhstan.
ward exports may be a strong short-term fix.
“It seems likely that with the sanctions Almaz Kumenov is an Almaty-based
on Russian oil and gas, it is going to become journalist.™

Week 34 24•August•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5