Putin and Tokayev discussed new oil and gas routes to China

Russia and Kazakhstan may have very large projects to transport oil and gas to other countries. This was discussed by the presidents of both countries in Astana, where Vladimir Putin is on a state visit.

“We also discussed the possibility of creating new routes for pumping our products (oil and gas) to third countries, mainly to the People’s Republic of China, including through the territory of Kazakhstan. “They are very profitable, interesting routes and promising projects.” – saying Vladimir Putin in Astana, reports Interfax.

According to the Russian president, the new routes will help stabilize the world economy, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. Russia will receive additional access to energy markets.

Russia already supplies 10 million tons of oil a year to China through Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan also receives 3 billion cubic meters of gas through the country. These volumes will quadruple in the coming years.

One of the new routes could be a combined project. In the summer of 2023, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy published photographs of public discussions about the gasification of the country’s northeast by a Russian company. And the slides said that the capacity of the gas pipeline called “RF-ROK-PRC” with access to China would be 40 billion cubic meters per year, and its cost would be 4.2 to 4.4 billion dollars.

Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Astana that the energy sector of the two countries is already firmly and naturally connected.

“And here, traditionally, a situation has arisen when in one of the regions of Kazakhstan there is a shortage of the same natural gas, while in other territories it is abundant. And it turns out that it is more profitable for us to join forces, to supply something to Kazakhstan, to receive something from Kazakhstan, given the rather large territory of Kazakhstan and our large territories, than to develop directly on our territory. That is why we are natural partners and allies.” – said Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president also discussed with Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the supply of oil from Kazakhstan, along the main transport corridor, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline to Novorossiysk.

“We discussed the possibility of increasing the pumping of Kazakh oil through the CPC to the port of Novorossiysk and continuing to send Kazakh oil to world markets. But it is not only Kazakh… You can say that it is from the territory of Kazakhstan, but it has a very international, international character.” — said the president, RIA Novosti.

The largest stakes in Kazakhstan’s three oil megaprojects belong to Western companies.