Caspian oil organization to offset the OPEC [View All]

[Robb]

Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev: Mulls Caspian oil organization to offset the OPEC

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev said last week to the Interfax news agency and Izvestia Daily that the five Caspian Sea nations should unite to create an OPEC-like oil organization to compete with the OPEC consortium and to support oil prices, reported news agencies Monday.

"International experts say that the Arab countries and OPEC are nervous not only about the scale of Caspian oil resources, but also the fact that Caspian states are not part of the cartel," Nazarbayev told the Interfax news agency and the Izvestia daily in an interview published Monday, reported AFP and Reuters.

"Caspian oil flows may destroy (OPEC's) might, affect its ability to set high prices and use oil as an instrument of political blackmail," Nazarbayev said in the interviews, according to Reuters and AFP.

(snip)

Kazakhstan with its giant Kashagan field, the biggest new oil find in the last 30 years (possibly 50 billion barrels or more) has attracted more than $20 billion in foreign investment and is trying to attract more Russian investment.

(more)