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Каспинфо май 2004 |
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Название: ПУТИ ТРАНСПОРТИРОВКИ КАСПИЙСКОЙ НЕФТИ (на англ. яз) Главные Пункты: * ЛУКойл заканчивает последние приготовления на терминале в Ильинке (Астраханская обл.) для организации в 2005 г. крупных поставок нефти в Иран танкерами. (05.05.2004) Полный Текст ПУТИ ТРАНСПОРТИРОВКИ КАСПИЙСКОЙ НЕФТИ (на англ. яз) ПУТИ ТРАНСПОРТИРОВКИ КАСПИЙСКОЙ НЕФТИ (на англ. яз) *** To: eurasia@topica.com From: Cyrus Safdari route Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 13:07:24 -0700 (PDT) =============================================== IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS ================================================ EURASIA: THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CASPIAN STUDIES, TEHRAN (IICS). http://www.caspianstudies.com To subscribe to this list, send a blank e-mail to: eurasia-subscribe@topica.com =============================================== IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS * IICS ================================================ LUKOIL's Astrakhan port a new Caspian oil route Reuters, 04.30.04, 7:41 AM ET By Richard Ayton ASTRAKHAN, Russia, April 30 (Reuters) - Russia's oil export drive is set to push more crude through the Caspian port of Astrakhan, where LUKOIL will launch an upgraded oil terminal next year. Russian oil output is higher than in any year since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but traditional export routes are now either overcrowded or stranded in newly independent states. Astrakhan, better known for its caviar and watermelons, is set to become the hub of an unlikely oil export route across the landlocked Caspian to Iran. LUKOIL is working on final plans to expand its terminal there to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year. "If we finish the plan in May, it will still take time to clear environmental authorities," the terminal's director Alexander Panfilov said. The upgrade should launch in 2005. LUKOIL spent tens of millions on the first stage of the Ilinka terminal, finished last year. The terminal's gleaming railway rack can unload up to 200 railway tanks each day. Stained an oily black, the tanks trundle creaking into the terminal from the nearest pipeline hundreds of miles to the north-east, unloading Siberian oil around the clock. The crude is then shipped to Neka on Iran's Caspian coast in tankers that, with the bulging spring river, range to as large as 6,500 tonnes. "We sometimes have storms or problems at Neka," he said. "But they usually return in around 6-7 days." POPULAR ROUTE From Neka on its northern coast Iran moves crude to its refineries in Tehran and Tabriz. The scheme has a capacity of 170,000 bpd, but Iran plans to boost that to 500,000 bpd with time. Iran offers Caspian producers an option to compensate them with its own oil on the Gulf -- a swap deal that effectively provides direct access to world shipping routes. Tehran had wanted to build a pipeline linking its two coasts that would allow direct transit shipments from the Caspian to the Gulf, a plan opposed by the United States, which has sponsored a pipeline from Azerbaijan to Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Iranian President Mohammed Khatami inaugurated the first stage of the Neka oil swap project on Thursday. The scheme is proving popular with shippers keen to take advantage of soaring world crude oil prices. Russian river shipping giant Volgotanker said it would boost transcaspian shipments to as much as 120,000 tonnes a month (30,000 barrels per day). The firm's eight tankers ply routes from Astrakhan and Kazakhstan to Iran and Azerbaijan. The landlocked sea's biggest shipper, Azeri-based CasPar, saw shipments in the first three months of 2004 jump by 18 percent compared with the same period last year. But volumes on the now traditional routes to Baku actually fell, while shipments to Iran increased more than five-fold. British energy giant BP's Russian venture TNK-BP began direct shipments to Iran earlier this month. The company sent an initial four cargoes totalling 147,000 barrels through the Volga and said it would ship more. To stay competitive, Azeri authorities have cut tariff charges for the transcaucasian rail route by over 10 percent to around $29 a tonne. Swapping oil with Iran was around $7-8 dollars cheaper a tonne than exporting through Azerbaijan and Georgia, according to CasPar. Azerbaijan expects Georgian officials to help close the gap by lowering tariffs on their section of the route. Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service |