Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ASTANA2118
2008-10-24 11:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Astana
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN: BRITISH FCO,S CASPIAN ENERGY ADVISOR

Tags:  PGOV EPET EWWT AJ KZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3655
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 0727
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2206
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RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
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RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
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RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2011
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1960
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2296
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASTANA 002118 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/CARC, EEB
STATE PLEASE PASS USTDA FOR DAN STEIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV EPET EWWT AJ KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: BRITISH FCO,S CASPIAN ENERGY ADVISOR
EXPRESSES CONCERNS ON CROSS-CASPIAN MARITIME CAPACITY

REF: ASTANA 2101

Classified By: Ambassador Richard Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASTANA 002118

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/CARC, EEB
STATE PLEASE PASS USTDA FOR DAN STEIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV EPET EWWT AJ KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: BRITISH FCO,S CASPIAN ENERGY ADVISOR
EXPRESSES CONCERNS ON CROSS-CASPIAN MARITIME CAPACITY

REF: ASTANA 2101

Classified By: Ambassador Richard Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) During an October 15 meeting with the Ambassador,
Angus Miller, Caspian Region Energy Advisor to Britain's
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, expressed his concerns that
Kazakhstan will not be able to expand its maritime capacity
quickly enough to handle the expected volumes of Kazakhstani
crude requiring transport across the Caspian to Baku.


2. (C) Miller noted that Deputy Energy Minister Lyazzat
Kiinov had said publicly at the KIOGE conference that crude
transported via the Kazakhstan Caspian Transportation System
(KCTS) will be shipped only by Kazakhstani and Azerbaijani
tankers, with international shippers excluded from the action
(see reftel). The Kazakhstanis also expect that their
vessels will be manned solely by Kazakhstani crews. Miller
told the Ambassador it will be challenging enough for
Kazakhstan to build in time the necessary tankers (six to
eight, if they are large tankers of 60,000 dwt),while
training such a sizable contingent of new Kazakhstani seamen
presents even greater hurdles. He believes that this will
put pressure on the Kazakhstanis to lower standards for both
vessels and crews. Miller also maintained that if Kazakhstan
is unable to increase its maritime capacity to handle all the
crude, there will be an opening for the Iranians to get
involved in shipping it, as the Iranians already have the
largest fleet on the Caspian.


3. (C) Miller said that he had just come from a meeting with
Kiinov, who rebuked Miller for Miller's address at KIOGE in
which he had argued that Kazakhstan's lack of preparedness
for cross-Caspian crude shipment is creating economic and
political vulnerabilities for the country. Miller said that
in the end, Kiinov admitted to him that there are serious
problems in building up Kazakhstan's maritime capacity for
KCTS. Miller told the Ambassador that he had also met with
the international oil companies operating in Kazakhstan
together with Kazakhstani port authorities. The companies
expressed concerns in line with Miller's on Kazakhstan's
maritime capacity and maritime standards. An Aktau port
official explained that Kazakhstan had installed a maritime
radar system for the Aktau area, but does not have the
personnel to run it properly. As a result, the radar can not
be used for active maritime management and collision
avoidance; rather, it is just a passive system for now.


4. (C) Miller stressed to the Ambassador that in his view,
the international companies need to provide assistance to
KazMorTransFlot (KMTF) -- Kazakhstan's national maritime
shipping company, which is owned 50 percent by KazMunaiGas
(KMG) and 50 percent by Samruk-Kazyna -- to build up its crew
capacity and to ensure that crews are trained to
international standards.
HOAGLAND