Chevron to build new pipe on Kazakh Caspian shore
ALMATY, June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. oil company Chevron (CVX.N) agreed with Kazakhstan on Friday to press ahead with a new domestic oil pipeline, due to be part of a broader $3 billion project to link Caspian oil deposits with international markets.
Kazakhstan pumps most of its oil through Russia but it has irritated Moscow in past years by announcing plans to build more pipelines and diversifying exports towards western Europe.
Chevron said the new pipeline, due to be built along Kazakhstan's western coast on the Caspian Sea, was discussed this week at a meeting between senior executives of Chevron and Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGas [KMG.UL].
"Chevron is pleased with the opportunity to develop the Southern Route jointly with Kazakhstan," the company's Kazakhstan office said in emailed remarks.
"This strategic asset will provide an additional export route to deliver Kazakh crude to the world markets."
The 750 km (466 mile) pipeline is due to feed oil from Kazakhstan's biggest oilfields -- Tengiz, developed by a Chevron-led group, and Kashagan, which has yet to start production -- into the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Kazakhstan's Yeskene-Kuryk portion of the pipeline, together with a planned trans-Caspian undersea route, are estimated at a total of $3 billion, according to previous government estimates.
Chevron did not say when the pipeline would be built. KazMunaiGas sees its maximum capacity at up to 56 million tonnes a year. Kazakhstan sees this year's oil production at 67.6 million tonnes (1.35 million barrels per day).
