Kazakhstan, Astana, Nov. 5 / Trend A.Maratov /
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan should develop their energy potential together, Azerbaijani Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said in an interview with Trend on the seventh meeting of an Azerbaijani-Kazakh intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation in Astana.
"Of course, it is important for us to use the all of the oil and gas potential that has been created and accumulated in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in the energy sector," he said. "First of all, this refers to offshore oil production."
Aliyev noted that Kazakhstan is implementing a project to develop the Kashagan Field. He noted that the project requires metalware, which has long been successfully produced in Azerbaijan.
"We have the opportunity to construct oil platforms and drilling rigs and all of this has long been successfully done in Azerbaijan," he said. "We always share our experience with Kazakhstan. By the way, we have produced metalware for Kashagan that have already been successfully used. We are also ready to continue supplying this equipment to the project."
The meeting also addressed the Trans-Caspian Pipeline Project, which involves transporting Kazakh oil via Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan signed an intergovernmental agreement on the transport of Kazakh oil via the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
"Tenders (on the Trans-Caspian project) have not yet started, but the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and the KazMunaiGaz Kazakh National Company (KMG) have already signed a project agreement on this project. Work is underway and I am sure that it will be successfully implemented, as oil supply diversification now holds a special place for any oil-producing country."
Kazakh oil has already been transported via Azerbaijan in various amounts, he said.
"I think that today we should base ourselves on the volumes that exist in reality," Aliyev said.
He stressed that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are also building up their tanker fleets.
"Today, we are coping with all of the volumes of Kazakh oil that we can," he said. "Moreover, we can increase transportation right now, adn I can say that we will even be able to cope with the volume in 2014 (during the first phase of Kashagan's development), and in 2018 (during the second phase). In short, we should just be ready for big volumes of Kazakh oil."
In conclusion, Aliyev said everything depends on how the Kashagan project unfolds.