Shareholders of the only private pipeline in Russia – the Caspian Pipeline Consortium – 17 December to sign a memorandum on the expansion project. That stands BP, controlling 6.6% stake in the CTC.Other co-owners of the consortium are ready to give BP a year for reconsideration, but the absence of its signature did not prevent them to begin preparing the draft, the newspaper writes today Kommersant . Yesterday, met the board of directors of CTC. The communication company said that shareholders of the consortium discussed the current economic issues, but also “agreed on measures aimed at signing on 17 December a memorandum of understanding and implementation of practical steps to expand the pipeline.” Major shareholders have already agreed on a memorandum. To sign the document does not want to just BP, controlling 6.6% stake in the CTC. CTC – the only private oil pipeline passing through Russia from the Kazakh Tengiza in Novorossiysk. The operator of the pipeline on the Kazakh territory is held by CTC-K, the Russian – CTC-R, the structure of their shareholders are identical. In 2007, the volume of prokachki of CTC was 32.6 million tons of oil, but shareholders are planning to increase capacity of up to 67 million tons. The largest owners of the CTC are: Russia (31%, the share is in the management of Transneft), Kazakhstan (19%), Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company (15%), LUKARCO BV (12,5%), Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures Limited (7,5%), Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company (7,5%). BP – the only company which, as the owner of the pipeline, it does not prokachivaet its oil. Other owners of the CTC wants to expand the pipeline was financed by their own means of a consortium, BP proposes to external borrowing. Now a significant portion of the profits that receives the CTC, is to repay loans to the consortium its own shareholders. Consolidated reporting CTC does not publish, according to SPARK in 2007 revenues of CTC-R was 18.2 billion rubles., Of which 12.8 billion rubles. was sent to the payment of interest. If the project starts expanding CTC payments to shareholders the consortium will be stopped until the (planned that this will happen in the years 2012-2013). Thus, a few years VR money from the project would not receive. Yesterday, shareholders of the CTC decided not to wait for the consent of BP. “Even if BP did not sign the memorandum, it will begin preparations for the expansion, it does not need the consent of all shareholders”, – said vice-president of Transneft, Mikhail Barkov. According to him, the shareholders of CTC have agreed to reserve funds to receive from the consortium before the end of 2009. At that point, VR may withdraw from the project (the company is negotiating the sale of shares). If that does not happen, and BP is still not agree on expansion, the money shared among the shareholders. But then the shareholders of CTC plans to file a lawsuit against BP, or begin construction of a parallel pipeline CTC. In VR situation did not comment. Industry experts understand the desire to “Transneft” to accelerate the expansion of the CTC. “There has intensified work on the expansion of alternative export routes for Kazakhstan,” – said analyst IK Troika Dialog, Valery Nesterov. In particular, the possibility of increasing the capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from 50 million to 80-100 million tons a year. The majority shareholder of the pipeline is BP. “To fill the two pipes, Kazakh oil is not enough” – adds analyst Michael RusEnergy Krutihin. That is a delay in the expansion of the CTC could result in Russia will lose part of transit revenues.
