Nazarbayev says he is eager to supply oil for BTC pipeline

Nazarbayev's remarks came in Astana where he gathered with a small group of Turkish journalists last week ahead of his upcoming official visit to Turkey later this week at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül.

“Even before one hour passed after we declared our independence, your then-president, late Turgut Özal, had directly called and congratulated me,” Nazarbayev told Turkish reporters, without being able to hide his strong emotions, speaking with a shaky voice when talking of Özal.

Turkey recognized Kazakhstan on Dec. 16, 1991, on the same day Kazakhstan declared its independence. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in March 1992. The two sides have constantly expanded the areas for cooperation and achieved satisfactory results since the independence of Kazakhstan. Common historical and cultural ties significantly contributed to rapid development of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.

“Overall, Turkey and Kazakhstan are engaged in strategic cooperation both in international and regional arenas. In other words, the two countries have been supporting the policies of each other. I believe that this relationship will further increase to a higher level upon my visit,” Nazarbayev said, citing Turkish construction companies' investments in Kazakhstan, 28 Kazakh-Turkish high schools in his country and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (or CICA), to which Kazakhstan and Turkey are members, as some of the concrete examples of bilateral cooperation between Astana and Ankara.

“In the near future, we want to lend support to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan [BTC] pipeline,” Nazarbayev added, referring to the pipeline that currently brings crude oil from Azerbaijan's Caspian fields to Turkey's Ceyhan port via Georgia.

Upon these remarks, Nazarbayev was reminded of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Astana, which took place in the first week of October. During the visit, Kazakhstan awarded a consortium of French companies a deal to take part in building a crucial $2 billion oil pipeline linking the vast Kashagan field to the Caspian. Energy supplies through the route will be transported across the inland sea by tankers to Azerbaijan and pumped by the pipeline westward to Europe, circumventing Russia. Kashagan has been hit by delays and soaring development costs and is not expected to begin production until 2012.

“This is an extremely important project that will become the main artery to transport Kazakh oil to Europe,” Nazarbayev told reporters at the time.

When asked by Turkish journalists whether the deal between Kazakhstan and France was retribution at the probable supply of Kazakh oil to the BTC pipeline, Nazarbayev said: “As you know, when the BTC was not yet prepared, Kazakh oil was being transferred to the Black Sea via the north Caucasus, being sent to the global market from there. But now the BTC pipeline is completed and agreements are signed between Azerbaijan and Turkey. We have made a decision to transport 10 million tons of oil to the BTC from our port-city of Aktau.”

In order to transport the vast amount of oil in Kashagan field, Kazakhstan will need alternative routes, Nazarbayev added, noting that the deal with the consortium of French companies stemmed from such a need.

“Five years later, the BTC pipeline itself will expose its own strategic agenda. However, there is a point that should be taken into consideration here, which is the fact that the Baku oil will be diminished five years later. And in this situation, there will be more need for Kazakh oil in the BTC pipeline,” he said.

Critics say the BTC pipeline, launched in 2005, would lose its economic profitability if it is not supplied with oil from Kazakhstan.

“We will start drilling oil in Kashagan in 2013, and the total amount of annual reserve of this oil will reach 120 tons. That's why we need new corridors and new routes. One of these routes is the Samsun-Ceyhan route via the Black Sea and the oil refinery to be built in Ceyhan; we want to take part in the construction of this refinery,” Nazarbayev said.

In response to a question, the Kazakh president said a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would shorten the distance through which Kazakh oil would be transported to the BTC pipeline.

Nazarbayev is scheduled to arrive in Turkey on Wednesday for a four-day official visit. While in Ankara, in addition to holding talks with Gül, Nazarbayev will also address Parliament. The Kazakh president, who will be accompanied by 200 businesspersons, will discuss bilateral relations and cooperation in tourism, education, trade and industry with Turkish officials. He will also attend the Turkish-Kazakh Business Forum, which will be held in İstanbul.

Kazakhstan is an important economic partner of Turkey, and cooperation between the Turkish and Kazakh authorities has played a major role in the development of Kazakhstan.

Earlier this month, a memorial for the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was inaugurated in Astana at a ceremony with the participation of Nazarbayev.

“The inauguration ceremony of the Atatürk Memorial in Astana is considered to be a sign of the satisfactory level of cooperation and the friendly and brotherly relations between Turkey and Kazakhstan emanating from our common history, and all the efforts of the Kazakh side in this respect are greatly appreciated by the Turkish side at all levels,” the Foreign Ministry said at the time in a written statement.