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Afghanistan and Caspian Oil
Subject: Mr. Chairman: The Caspian Sea Region Contains Tremendous
Untapped Hydrocarbon Reserves...'98 Congressional Hearing
"From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline
we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized
government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and
our company. "
Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of international relations, Unocal
Corporation
U.S. INTERESTS IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS HEARING BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION
FEBRUARY 12, 1998
Next we would like to hear from Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of
international relations, Unocal Corporation. You may proceed as you wish.
STATEMENT OF JOHN J. MARESCA, VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,
UNOCAL CORPORATION
Mr. Maresca. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's nice to see you again. I am John
Maresca, vice president for international relations of the Unocal
Corporation. Unocal, as you know, is one of the world's leading energy
resource and project development companies. I appreciate your invitation to
speak here today. I believe these hearings are important and timely. I
congratulate you for focusing on Central Asia oil and gas reserves and the
role they play in shaping U.S. policy.
I would like to focus today on three issues. First, the need for multiple
pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas resources. Second, the need
for U.S. support for international and regional efforts to achieve balanced
and lasting political settlements to the conflicts in the region, including
Afghanistan. Third, the need for structured assistance to encourage
economic reforms and the development of appropriate investment climates in
the region. In this regard, we specifically support repeal or removal of
section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.
Mr. Chairman, the Caspian region contains tremendous untapped hydrocarbon
reserves. Just to give an idea of the scale, proven natural gas reserves
equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet. The region's total oil reserves
may well reach more than 60 billion barrels of oil. Some estimates are as
high as 200 billion barrels. In 1995, the region was producing only 870,000
barrels per day. By 2010, western companies could increase production to
about 4.5 million barrels a day, an increase of more than 500 percent in
only 15 years. If this occurs, the region would represent about 5 percent
of the world's total oil production.
One major problem has yet to be resolved: how to get the region's vast
energy resources to the markets where they are needed. Central Asia is
isolated. Their natural resources are landlocked, both geographically and
politically. Each of the countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia faces
difficult political challenges. Some have unsettled wars or latent
conflicts. Others have evolving systems where the laws and even the courts
are dynamic and changing. In addition, a chief technical obstacle which we
in the industry face in transporting oil is the region's existing pipeline
infrastructure.
Because the region's pipelines were constructed during the Moscow-centered
Soviet period, they tend to head north and west toward Russia. There are no
connections to the south and east. But Russia is currently unlikely to
absorb large new quantities of foreign oil. It's unlikely to be a
significant market for new energy in the next decade. It lacks the capacity
to deliver it to other markets.
Two major infrastructure projects are seeking to meet the need for
additional export capacity. One, under the aegis of the Caspian Pipeline
Consortium, plans to build a pipeline west from the northern Caspian to the
Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Oil would then go by tanker through
the Bosporus to the Mediterranean and world markets.
The other project is sponsored by the Azerbaijan International Operating
Company, a consortium of 11 foreign oil companies, including four American
companies, Unocal, Amoco, Exxon and Pennzoil. This consortium conceives of
two possible routes, one line would angle north and cross the north
Caucasus to Novorossiysk. The other route would cross Georgia to a shipping
terminal on the Black Sea. This second route could be extended west and
south across Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
But even if both pipelines were built, they would not have enough total
capacity to transport all the oil expected to flow from the region in the
future. Nor would they have the capability to move it to the right markets.
Other export pipelines must be built.
At Unocal, we believe that the central factor in planning these pipelines
should be the location of the future energy markets that are most likely to
need these new supplies. Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and
the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union are all slow growth
markets where demand will grow at only a half a percent to perhaps 1.2
percent per year during the period 1995 to 2010.
Asia is a different story all together. It will have a rapidly increasing
energy consumption need. Prior to the recent turbulence in the Asian
Pacific economies, we at Unocal anticipated that this region's demand for
oil would almost double by 2010. Although the short-term increase in demand
will probably not meet these expectations, we stand behind our long-term
estimates.
I should note that it is in everyone's interest that there be adequate
supplies for Asia's increasing energy requirements. If Asia's energy needs
are not satisfied, they will simply put pressure on all world markets,
driving prices upwards everywhere.
The key question then is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be
made available to nearby Asian markets. There are two possible solutions,
with several variations. One option is to go east across China, but this
would mean constructing a pipeline of more than 3,000 k ilometers just to
reach Central China. In addition, there would have to be a 2,000-kilometer
connection to reach the main population centers along the coast. The
question then is what will be the cost of transporting oil through this
pipeline, and what would be the netback which the producers would receive.
For those who are not familiar with the terminology, the netback is the
price which the producer receives for his oil or gas at the wellhead after
all the transportation costs have been deducted. So it's the price he
receives for the oil he produces at the wellhead.
The second option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the
Indian Ocean. One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is
foreclosed for American companies because of U.S. sanctions legislation.
The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which has of course
its own unique challenges. The country has been involved in bitter warfare
for almost two decades, and is still divided by civil war. >From the
outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we have
proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government
is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our
company.
Mr. Chairman, as you know, we have worked very closely with the University
of Nebraska at Omaha in developing a training program for Afghanistan which
will be open to both men and women, and which will operate in both parts of
the country, the north and south.
Unocal foresees a pipeline which would become part of a regional system
that will gather oil from existing pipeline infrastructure in Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. The 1,040-mile long oil pipeline would
extend south through Afghanistan to an export terminal that would be
constructed on the Pakistan coast. This 42-inch diameter pipeline will have
a shipping capacity of one million barrels of oil per day. The estimated
cost of the project, which is similar in scope to the trans-Alaska
pipeline, is about $2.5 billion.
Given the plentiful natural gas supplies of Central Asia, our aim is to
link gas resources with the nearest viable markets. This is basic for the
commercial viability of any gas project. But these projects also face
geopolitical challenges. Unocal and the Turkish company Koc Holding are
interested in bringing competitive gas supplies to Turkey. The proposed
Eurasia natural gas pipeline would transport gas from Turkmenistan directly
across the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey. Of course
the demarcation of the Caspian remains an issue.
Last October, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline Consortium, called CentGas, in
which Unocal holds an interest, was formed to develop a gas pipeline which
will link Turkmenistan's vast Dauletabad gas field with markets in Pakistan
and possibly India. The proposed 790-mile pipeline will open up new markets
for this gas, traveling from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Multan in
Pakistan. The proposed extension would move gas on to New Delhi, where it
would connect with an existing pipeline. As with the proposed Central Asia
oil pipeline, CentGas can not begin construction until an internationally
recognized Afghanistan Government is in place.
The Central Asia and Caspian region is blessed with abundant oil and gas
that can enhance the lives of the region's residents, and provide energy
for growth in both Europe and Asia. The impact of these resources on U.S.
commercial interests and U.S. foreign policy is also significant. Without
peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the region, cross-border oil and
gas pipelines are not likely to be built. We urge the Administration and
the Congress to give strong support to the U.N.-led peace process in
Afghanistan. The U.S. Government should use its influence to help find
solutions to all of the region's conflicts.
U.S. assistance in developing these new economies will be crucial to
business success. We thus also encourage strong technical assistance
programs throughout the region. Specifically, we urge repeal or removal of
section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. This section unfairly restricts
U.S. Government assistance to the government of Azerbaijan and limits U.S.
influence in the region.
Developing cost-effective export routes for Central Asian resources is a
formidable task, but not an impossible one. Unocal and other American
companies like it are fully prepared to undertake the job and to make
Central Asia once again into the crossroads it has been in the past. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.