Sign in Subscribe
Petroleum industry

Western Oil Majors Cool to Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Efforts to enlist ExxonMobil and other Western oil majors for the $2.4bn Baku-Ceyhan pipeline have fallen flat, with reps from Chevron and Shell offering noncommittal responses to recent presentations in Washington and Paris. Azerbaijan and Turkey, backed by the US, are seeking support for the project, which aims to raise financing for the pipeline through a sponsor group. Meanwhile, officials from Turkmenistan have announced plans to resume negotiations on the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP) to Turkey in March 2001.

Key Takeaways:

  • ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell have not committed to supporting the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, despite recent presentations in Washington and Paris.
  • The US, Azerbaijan, and Turkey are backing the project, which aims to raise financing through a sponsor group.
  • Turkmenistan plans to resume negotiations on the TCGP in March 2001, with Russia and Iran invited to participate.
  • Aktobemunaigaz, a Kazakh oil producer, has seen a 12.7% increase in oil production in the 11-month period ending November.
  • Socar, the Azeri state-owned oil company, is planning to load 6mn bl of Azeri Light oil at the Georgian port of Supsa in 2001.
  • Marubeni, a Japanese company, is planning to modernise the 104,000 b/d Atyrau refinery in western Kazakhstan, with work scheduled to start in mid-2001.

Statistics:

  • $2.4bn: the estimated cost of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline.
  • 8%: ExxonMobil's stake in AIOC, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company.
  • 25.12%: the Kazakh government's stake in oil producer Aktobemunaigaz transferred to Access Industries.
  • 60%: the share of Aktobemunaigaz owned by China's CNPC.
  • 2.36mn t (51,000 b/d): the amount of oil produced by Aktobemunaigaz in the 11-month period ending November.
  • 12.7%: the increase in oil production by Aktobemunaigaz in the 11-month period ending November.
  • 6mn bl: the amount of Azeri Light oil to be loaded at the Georgian port of Supsa in 2001.
  • $265mn: the amount in the Azerbaijan state oil fund.
  • $308mn: the estimated cost of the modernisation project for the Atyrau refinery.
  • $240mn: the 30-year loan to be provided by Marubeni for the Atyrau refinery modernisation project.
  • 15%: the annual interest rate on the loan to be provided by Marubeni for the Atyrau refinery modernisation project.

Sources:

  • FSUE, 6 October, p5
  • FSUE, 22 September, p5

Read more