OREANDA-NEWS. August 27, 2012. CPC Tengiz-Novorossiysk Mainline Pipeline was shut down from 21 till 24 August 2012. The shutdown was the second in a series scheduled for this year and was used to tie-in some new equipment and to replace some block valves as a joint effort by Expansion and Operations. The tie-in scope, compared to that completed in May, differs in scale and in that it has to be completed on many more sites. New equipment tie-ins were designed for and completed at four rather than just two pump stations and also for Marine Terminal process piping.

The key objective of the exercise is to complete Phase 1 of CPC Capacity Expansion to build up the capacity of the entire CPC pipeline system. In particular, one mainline and two booster pump headers were connected at the Atyrau Pump Station. A surge relief system and an oil meter were tied in at Astrakhan and mainline pump headers at Komsomolsk and Kropotkin. In addition, a pig launcher/receiver trap was connected to the third subsea line constructed to an additional single point mooring.

In parallel with tying-in the new additional equipment, some large-diameter ball valves were replaced at Atyrau, Komsomolsk and Kropotkin as part of on-going operations.

Concerted effort on the part of CPC personnel, strict compliance with industrial safety standards and also full and thorough preparations allowed the complex job to be completed as scheduled and without any delays. Similar to the first tie-in, this shutdown will lead to some decrease in oil movement volumes through the CPC System, yet the successful completion of the tie-in is necessary for effective delivery of Phase 1 of the Expansion Project.

The CPC pipeline system is one of the largest investment projects with foreign capital in the CIS. The length of the pipeline connecting oil fields in Western Kazakhstan with the Marine Terminal in Novorossiysk is 1,511 km.

The CPC Project was originally developed with a view to a potential expansion of its capacity by 2 ? times up to 67 MTA (76 MTA with DRA).

The Expansion Project includes rehabilitation of 5 existing and construction of 10 additional pump stations (2 in the Republic of Kazakhstan and 8 in the Russian Federation), six crude oil storage tanks near Novorossiysk and a SPM at the CPC Marine Terminal, and also the replacement of a 88 km pipeline section in Kazakhstan with a larger diameter pipe. The total amount of the Project investments will be USD 5.4 billion.

CPC Shareholders: Russian Federation (represented by Transneft - 24% and CPC Company - 7 %) - 31%; Republic of Kazakhstan (represented by Kazmunaygaz - 19% and Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures LLC - 1.75%) - 20.75%; Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company - 15%, LUKARCO B.V. - 12.5%, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company - 7.5%, Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures Limited - 7.5%, BG Overseas Holding Limited - 2%, Eni International N.A. N.V. - 2% and Oryx Caspian Pipeline LLC - 1.75%.