Kazakhstan plans to facilitate Russian oil transfers to China
A story from the January 2024 edition of The Steppe
Kazakhstan plans to facilitate Russian oil transfers to China
Kazakhstan plans to facilitate the transit of more than 100 million tons of Russian oil to China by 2033, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a November 2023 interview with Russian daily Izvestia.
The nation's oil pipeline operator KazTransitOil extended an agreement to deliver Russian oil to China by 10 years with the deal calling for an annual transit flow of 733 million barrels of oil.
Kazakhstan is betting on the move to pay dividends that, according to The Diplomat, warrant the risk of potential secondary sanctions which could be imposed by the U.S. and the EU. Notably, these sanctions would target specific companies, banks, and individuals rather than the entire nation.Â
With business leaders likely facing the most significant repercussions, it is uncertain whether secondary sanctions would prompt a change in policy. Nevertheless, even if Kazakhstan evades such punitive measures, investors may choose to withhold investment as a precautionary measure.
The oil deal aligns with Kazakhstan's endeavor to maintain an equilibrium between its relations with the West and Russia. Kazakh officials are still eager to assert Ukraine’s sovereignty in the ongoing conflict with Russia and to show that they take the West’s sanctions concerns seriously, introducing a new tracking system that would supposedly allow tracing of the movement of goods from border to border.