New York, 5 April - Neftegaz.RU. The outlook for a pipeline company that controls about half of the oil flow in Kazakhstan remains stable and supportive of growth, Fitch Ratings said.
Fitch Ratings affirmed a BBB-rating and stable outlook for KazTransOil, the national pipeline operator in Kazakhstan. The company, which holds a de facto monopoly over pipeline transit, delivered about half of the total volume of oil produced in the country last year.
2 Kazakh joint ventures with Chinese companies operate a Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline and those volumes aren't included in KazTransOil's share, Fitch stated. In general, stable volumes are expected from the Central Asian nation.
«At the same time, the volume of exports has decreased and may continue to decrease slightly due to depletion of a number of deposits in the central part of Kazakhstan and growth in production at the Kashagan field, the largest new field in the country using an alternative route for oil exports,» Fitch stated in its ratings rationale. «However, this trend will not weaken the company's business profile.»
As a pipeline company, it's not directly impacted by the price of crude oil. The company last year had earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of about $350 million. Russian oil company Rosneft, meanwhile, has a transport agreement with the company that could give it revenue in excess of $30 million.
Author: Daniel J. Graeber
