BP may sell CPC stake

BP may sell its share in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which pumps crude from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea, if it fails to agree with Russia on terms for expanding the line.

The move would trigger a further shareholding reshuffle at the consortium after another member; Gulf Arab state Oman, said it was also looking to sell its stake. Most of the shareholders of the Chevron-led pipeline, which runs to the major Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, have agreed on the expansion terms demanded by Russia, which owns 24% in the consortium as a host state. BP, the only shareholder that still opposes the terms, said it was considering selling the stake if no compromise was found. "This is one of the options to settle the current situation," Vladimir Buyanov, a BP spokesman told. He said BP may sell its stakes in Lukarco and Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures, which are members of the consortium. BP's stakes in the ventures bring its share in CPC to 6.6%, Buyanov said. Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, which holds the country's stake in CPC, had long opposed the plan to double the pipeline's capacity from the current 700,000 barrels per day, but it has now dropped its objections. Transneft previously argued that the pipeline yielded low returns and that expansion would add pressure on the already congested Turkish Straits shipping route.
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