Oman would consider selling its 7 percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) if the Gulf Arab state receives a favourable offer, a finance ministry official said on Saturday.“If the offer is right, then why not? We have had a few interested parties but nobody put in a firm proposal,” the official, who declined to be named, told newswire Reuters.
Last month, Kazakhstan and Russia voiced interest in buying Oman’s 7 percent stake in CPC should the Gulf state decide to sell out.
Shareholders in CPC, the key export route for Kazakh crude, are struggling to come to terms on the pipeline’s expansion, with Russia, the key host state, opposing the plan.
Industry sources told Reuters last month that Oman, frustrated with delays, had decided to quit the project.
“We are not really frustrated, as reported earlier, with the project but we may sell purely from a business point of view,” the official said.
Russia has a 24 percent stake in CPC and Kazakhstan owns 19 percent. The rest belongs to private shareholders: Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, LUKOIL and Rosneft. (Reuters)
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