History
CPC was initially created in 1992 as a development by the Russian, Kazakhstani and Omani governments to build a dedicated pipeline from Kazakhstan to export routes in the Black Sea. Chevron Corporation was asked to join, however talks broke down due to the high financial burden Chevron would have to take on relative to equity in the pipeline. Progress on the project stalled for several years until 1996 when a restructure included eight production companies in the project. Among the companies were Chevron, Mobil, LUKoil, Royal Dutch Shell and Rosneft. BP joined the consortium in 2003. Shares were divided fifty-fifty between the three states and the eight companies. Production companies financed the construction cost of US$2.67 billion, while the Russian Federation contributed unused pipeline assets worth US$293 million. First oil was loaded onto a tanker at the Novorossiysk Marine Terminal on 13 October 2001 and the first stage of the pipeline was officially inaugurated on 27 November 2001. Regular operations started in April 2003.
In April 2007, the Russian government transferred its shares to the Russian state-owned oil pipeline company Transneft. In October 2008, the Government of Oman sold its 7%-stake to Transneft at a price of $700million and withdrew from the project. On 17 December 2008, a memorandum on expanding the pipeline was signed.
Read more about this topic: Caspian Pipeline Consortium
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