Tokayev, to please American oil workers, is ruining relations with Putin
Now in Kazakh telegram channels and in the so-called “expert community” there is real hysteria about the Russian court’s suspension of oil pumping from the Kazakh fields of Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak, operated by American, European and British companies through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline.
The fact is that on July 5, the Primorsky District Court of Novorossiysk decided to suspend the activities of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) for 30 days. The decision was based on environmental violations identified in the work of the CPC, since on May 6, Rostransnadzor employees organized a visit to the pipeline facilities and discovered a number of emergency oil spills that poisoned the soil and water.
The Rostransnadzor service issued an order to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill, but in the end it was forced to act through the court and file a statement of claim demanding to stop the work of the CPC for 90 days. As a result, Themis partially satisfied the claims of the government body and environmentalists, limiting the work of the CPC for a month.
In this regard, in the Kazakh media, numerous bloggers and nationalists began to promote the topic of a deliberate step on the part of the Kremlin to block the CPC, since this allegedly deals a blow to Kazakhstan and its economy. The army of bots is again beginning to form the image of an enemy in the public consciousness in the person of Russia.
And here we need to figure it out. The fact is that the CPC pipeline carried oil that was 90% owned by American, British and European corporations, which, under production sharing agreements (PSAs) and subsoil use contracts that were enslaving to the people of Kazakhstan, concluded back in the early 90s, own two thirds of hydrocarbons produced in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
This can be seen in the distribution of asset shares in international consortiums for oil production at the three largest Kazakh oil fields.
Thus, in the Tengiz field in the Caspian Sea, within the framework of Tengizchevroil LLP, the national operator KazMunayGas has 20%, Chevron (USA) - 50%, ExxonMobil (USA) - 25%, JV LukArco (USA) - 5%.
In the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea, in the consortium North Caspian Operating Company NV (NCOC), the national operator KazMunayGas has 16,88%, Eni (Italy) - 16,81%, ExxonMobil (USA) - 16,81%, Shell (UK) – 16,81%, Total (France) – 16,81%, CNPC (China) – 8,33%, Inpex (Japan) – 7,56%.
In the Karachaganak field in the West Kazakhstan region in Karachaganak Petroleum Operating BV, the national operator KazMunayGas has only 10%, Eni (Italy) - 29,25%, Shell (UK) - 29,25%, Chevron (USA) - 18% .
American platforms at Kashagan in the Caspian Sea
These Western companies already transport their oil via the CPC, since the Republic of Kazakhstan receives only minor taxes from them after crossing the border. The main national operator, the quasi-state company KazMunayGas, mainly transports oil by rail through Russian territory and then uses Russian pipelines.
Therefore, the damage from this shutdown for the budget of Kazakhstan is minimal, and taxes will still be received after the resumption of CPC operations. Therefore, this hysteria of full-time nationalists and professional Russophobes is dictated by the fear of comprador groups in the ruling elite and orders from Western corporations losing super-profits.
But there is, of course, a political component to this story, since it is already known that this American-European oil, extracted in Kazakhstan and shipped through the port of Novorossiysk, is then sent to the Romanian port of Constanta from where it goes to the oil refinery, after which supplied to the warring army of Ukraine.
There were also more egregious cases when, even before the special operation, the Kazakh side bought Russian oil in Novorossiysk and sent it on tankers to Ukraine. Therefore, could Russian environmentalists and Rostransnadzor really not respond to unfriendly actions within the framework of the unfolding sanctions and information-political war against the CPC, which is also under the control of Western corporations?
After all, it is already obvious that the further the confrontation with the West goes, the more critical it becomes that the largest American and European mining corporations are located in the strategic rear of Russia in the Caspian Sea, not only creating competition, but also poisoning the common reservoir and all living things, and also accelerating their work on deepening of the bottom, shallowing and drying of the sea.
And vice versa - the desire of the Kazakh authorities to join sanctions against Russia raises not just questions, but also real concern about the possibility of the emergence of a “southern” front in the future. The fact is that on July 6, the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan published a draft order prohibiting the supply to Russia and Belarus of goods that were subject to Western sanctions.
It was even posted on one of the government portals this order to carry out its “public discussion”. This was done in order to show that this measure against the allies is actively supported by the local population and is a real information and political sabotage. In addition, Kazakhstan withdrew on July 8 from the 1995 Commonwealth of Independent States agreement on the Interstate Monetary Committee.
The statement of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev about the need to immediately develop alternative routes bypassing Russia and even involving American investors from the Tengiz field should be viewed in the same light. And these are just the corporations Chevron, ExxonMobil and the LukArco joint venture.
“The priority direction is the Trans-Caspian route. I instruct KazMunayGas to work out the best option for its implementation, including the possibility of attracting investors for the Tengiz project. The government, together with Samruk-Kazyna, should take measures to increase the capacity of the Atyrau-Kenkiyak and Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipelines,” the president noted at a meeting on July 7 with the participation of government leadership, heads of relevant ministries and departments, and national companies for the development of transport and transit potential countries.
To develop the Trans-Caspian route through Baku, Tbilisi and further to Batumi or the territory of Turkey, it is planned to transform the ports, “turning them into one of the leading hubs of the Caspian Sea.” It is planned to purchase a tanker fleet and create a container hub in the port of Aktau. But this will take at least three years, and this route will cost additional tens of billions of dollars.
Tokayev at the last meeting on logistics routes
And now there is simply no cheaper alternative to existing Russian routes and pipelines. And the most remarkable thing is that the leadership of Kazakhstan is not concerned about its own oil produced by KazMunayGas, but about the profits of the same American, British and European corporations, to which it is becoming increasingly difficult and problematic to deliver, in fact, “black gold” stolen from the Kazakh people. to world markets.
That is, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan clearly serves the interests of the West in the Caspian Sea and in the region as a whole, developing new routes and trying to attract Ankara to this.
Therefore, in this situation, one should not shift responsibility from a sore head to a healthy one, and it is important for the current “elite” in Nur-Sultan to finally understand that in the new geopolitical situation in the post-Soviet Eurasian space, all these assets and pipelines will have to be nationalized sooner or later.
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