AKIPRESS.COM - The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said the company plans a new modernization project, which will increase the transportation of Kazakh oil from the current 61 million tonnes of oil per year to 72.5 million tonnes per year, the New Europe reported.

CPC General Director Nikolay Gorban told reporters in Atyrau the Consortium shareholders currently reviewed and agreed to implement a Comprehensive Programme for upgrading the CPC oil pipeline system.

“According to the received forward-looking applications of shippers, it is expected that the volume of oil supplies from Kazakhstan to CPC will exceed the current throughput capacity of the pipeline system starting from 2022. In this regard, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium will need to modernise the pipeline system to be ready for Kazakh oil,” Gorban said.

After completion of the modernization, the capacity of the system will ensure the transportation of Kazakh oil to at least 72.5 million tonnes of oil per year.

According to him, CPC should provide opportunities for receiving additional volumes of Kazakh oil in CPC from mid-2022.

Secondly, the Consortium plans to complete the modernization by December 2023. The cost of the modernisation project for the period 2019-2023 will be $599.9 million.

The CPC pipeline takes oil directly from the fields in West Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. After the completion of the CPC Expansion Project in 2017, the volume of transportation of Kazakh oil has doubled, from 30 million tonnes to 60 million tonnes per year. However, with the release of the Kashagan field to the planned capacity, Kazakhstan intends to significantly increase the production of oil.