Putin begins Central Asia tour aimed at boosting Moscow’s energy power

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a Central Asian tour aimed at boosting Russia’s influence in the region’s rich energy sector, on Thursday agreed to allow more Kazakh oil to be shipped through Russian territory.

At talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Putin agreed to the expansion of a pipeline that carries oil from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. Russia previously had resisted expanding the pipeline, fearing that it would put Kazakh and Russian oil in competition for the limited number of tankers allowed to go from Novorossiisk through the overcrowded Bosporus and on to Western markets.

IHT