of the new Economy and Environment Committee within the OSCE. The decision to set up three new committees, the other two being on security and on human dimension, was made by the ministerial meeting last December.

New Export Route for Kazakh Oil Gets Closer to Reality

KazMunaiGaz, Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company, signed a memorandum of understanding with two large consortia developing the country’s largest known oil fields on January 24, envisioning the creation of a new Kazakhstan Caspian Transportation System (KCTS) to ship Kazakh oil across the sea.

The deal between KazMunaiGaz and Chevron-led Tengizchevroil and Eni-led Agip KCO envisions the construction of the Eskene-Kuryk connecting pipeline in Kazakhstan and of the trans-Caspian system comprising oil terminals on the Kazakh eastern shore of the sea, tankers and barges, andthe world seeks more affordable alternatives to oil and gas, and ethanol seems to be one of the more attractive of such alternatives. In his State of the Union address on January 23, U.S. President George W. Bush said seeking new technologies of producing ethanol will be a priority for the United States as it seeks to diversify its energy supplies.

Kelimbetov also said Kazakhstan, better known internationally for its huge oil, gas and natural uranium reserves, has plans for creating a large petrochemical complex based on the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant, to be linked with enterprises in Aktau in the west of the country, the South Kazakhstan and in Temirtau in the center of the country.

Earlier, speaking at a business conference in Astana, Kelimbetov also announced plans to set