Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s expansion plan three years ahead of schedule

K A Z A K H O I L

A Chevron Corp.-managed pipeline that ships Kazakh oil to the Black Sea should reach full capacity three years earlier than planned. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC, should gain approval from shareholders for an expansion plan by January at the latest, Igor Kozin, general manager for CPC’s expansion projects, said yesterday. That will let the CPC start the expansion next year and complete it by the end of 2008. Russia, the link’s biggest investor, has delayed approval of upgrades that will cost US$1.6- billion to US$ 1.8- billion as President Vladimir Putin increases state control over the energy industry. Chevron said in June that it will invest an extra US$3-billion there to help boost the country’s crude production almost fivefold by 2025.