The issue of establishing a North-Caspian ecological oil-spill
reaction base in Atyrau has been resolved and the place of
construction determined, Kazakh Minister of Oil and Gas Mynbayev told
VK.
The base will be supplied with various types of river-sea boats,
modern equipment and devices to collect spilled oil. It will be built
in the Damba village, a few kilometers away from Atyrau, in the lower
Ural river.
The construction was halted due to disagreements with social
organizations, protesting against boats being present in a
conservation area too close to the mouth of the Ural river, where fish
spawn. Mynbayev said that they had taken the requests of ecologists
and social organizations into account.
The base will be built on the Primorskiy canal, a kilometer away from
the Ural River. If an oil spill occurs, the oil will be transported to
the territory of Bautino Mangistautskaya to be processed. The boats
will return to Atyrau to refine leftover oil.
“This base is necessary. If it is not built, then by law oil
extraction in Kashagan will not start, and over $27 billion has
already been spent on the project. This is firstly necessary for
unforeseen incidents of oil spillages. We will be able to prevent oil
from reaching the rushes on the shores of the Caspian Sea. That is why
oil producers and social organizations should resolve their
disagreements constructively as soon as possible, by making
concessions if necessary”, Mynbayev said.
