12:40 - 23.04.2026

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April 23, Fineko/abc.az. Kazakhstan is interested in developing an oil transportation route through the Caspian Sea.

ABC.AZ informs that PetroCouncil.kz’s chairman of board Asylbek Dzhakiyev made the relevant statement at the 2nd oil trade & transport forum "Caspian & Central Asia" in Baku.

He added that close to 80% of Kazakhstan's oil is transported through one export pipeline, which creates significant geopolitical risks and increases the vulnerability of the export infrastructure.

Dzhakiyev noted that two oil supply routes are being considered as alternatives - through the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan via the Middle Corridor route, as well as to China. In particular, the pipeline in the Chinese direction, built nearly 10 years ago with the participation of Chinese investments, has capacity of up to 20 million tons of oil a year, but currently it is used only at the level of 3-5 million tons.

According to Dzhakiev, expansion of the oil transportation infrastructure across the Caspian Sea requires significant investments that Kazakhstan cannot provide on its own.

He added that work is underway with European and American partners in this regard, but in the long term, producers still do not have full confidence in the economic efficiency of alternative oil supply routes.

At the same time, according to Dzhakiyev, the cost of oil transportation through the Russian and Azerbaijani directions varies significantly, and the final competitiveness of the routes will depend on the geopolitical situation after the end of the war.