We must keep the oil safe - - -
U.S. Pledges to Help Kazakhs in Caspian Security
Wed Feb 25, 2004 07:38 AM ET
By Charles Aldinger
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
pledged to help Kazakhstan ensure security in the oil-rich Caspian
Sea Wednesday, an area of acute interest for Washington as it seeks
to diversify its crude oil supplies.
Rumsfeld flew into Kazakhstan, an ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia
likely to become a major oil player in the next decade, as part of a
trip to the region aimed at bolstering military ties and efforts to
cut drugs trafficking.
"We have been cooperating with exercises and different types of
equipment (in the Caspian)," Rumsfeld told a news conference after
talks with Kazakh officials in the capital Astana.
A senior U.S. defense official told reporters traveling with Rumsfeld
that Washington was anxious to help Caspian security, possibly by
supplying boats and radars.
"They (Kazakhstan) are extremely interested in developing security
within Kazakhstan and the Caspian, especially for oil," said the
official, who asked not to be identified.
Kazakhstan decided last year to set up its own navy and is to take
delivery of its first battleships in coming months.
The states around the Caspian -- Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran,
Azerbaijan and Russia -- have still not agreed on its exact
delineation following the break-up of the Soviet Union, potentially
causing strife over the mineral wealth below.
As Rumsfeld arrived in Astana, the Kazakh government signed an
agreement with a consortium of foreign oil firms, including U.S.-
based ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, on oil production in the
Caspian.
The companies have pushed back the start of production at the
offshore Kashagan site, one of the biggest crude oil discoveries in
the past 30 years, by at least three years due to technical
difficulties and agreed to pay an undisclosed fine.
Washington has been seeking to diversify oil production away from the
Middle East and is an increasingly important player in ex-Soviet
Central Asia, where it is encouraging Western oil firms to operate
and pushing for pipelines that avoid Russia.
"It is important to this country and to this area of the world that
security be assured (in the Caspian)," Rumsfeld said.
Tuesday he reiterated that the Pentagon had no intention of
establishing permanent military bases in Central Asia as part of a
realignment of U.S. forces around the world.
While Kazakhstan has not allowed U.S. troops to be based on its soil
as has neighboring Uzbekistan, it allows American military aircraft
to use the airport of Almaty for emergency landings and refueling for
operations in nearby Afghanistan.
� Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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