CNPC, Kazakh company sign cooperation agreement on crude oil pipeline

The planned second phase of China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline project saw material progress as CNPC president Jiang Jiemin recently inked a pipeline construction and operation agreement with Uzakbai Karabalin, president of the Kazakh state-owned oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz.

The pipeline, when completed, will link with a pipeline in west Kazakhstan, thus forming an export route from the Caspian Sea through Kazakhstan to China, reported Shanghai Securities News. At present, CNPC is in negotiation on prospecting rights of some oil blocks in the Caspian Sea.

The first phase of the China-Kazakhstan crude pipeline boasts an annual handling capacity of 10 million tons, and started operation in mid-2006. The second phase pipeline will add a handling capacity of 10 million tons per year.