Azerbaijan, Baku, 12 June /corr. Trend E.Ismaylov / Preparation of the agreement between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on key principles of Kazakhstan Caspian Transportation System (KCTS) will be complete in September-October of this year, a high-ranking representative of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) said.
Currently works are being carried out on this document, SOCAR representative said.
The agreement on oil transportation from Kazakhstan via territory of Azerbaijan was signed on 16 June 2006. The resource base is the fields of Kashagan and Tengiz as well as other marine projects.
The system is envisaged to transport oil from Kazakhstan to Baku for onward dispatch via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The Kazakh side initially estimates the creation of KCTS at $3bln. It envisages constructing pipeline Eskene-Kurik in Kazakhstan to deliver oil to coast. The initial cost of the project, with a capacity of up to 20mln tons per year, will total nearly $1.3-$1.4bln at the first stage. Nearly $500-600mln should be spent on the construction of terminals in Kazakhstan and nearly $700mln in Azerbaijan. the cost of each tanker is supposed to total $70-80mln. Each tanker is supposed to transport nearly 5mln tons of oil per year. The deadweight of the tankers is expected to equal nearly 60,000 tons.