"The Caspian oil find was of great interest to the United States. Oil was high on the agenda of Secretary of State Albright during her trip to Central Asia. "The Clinton administration has taken a keen interest in the placement of the pipelines planned for carrying Caspian oil to European markets." "The US wants Turkmen President Niyazov to commit natural gas to a proposed trans-Caspian pipeline to Turkey, bypassing Russia and the ``rogue state'' Iran. "Russian firms have lagged behind Western competitors in investing in Caspian oil and gas wealth, something Russian president Putin says he wants to put right." US Notes Possible Caspian Oil Find WASHINGTON (AP)- The possibility of a new vast petroleum reserve in the northern Caspian Sea near Kazakstan would, if confirmed, have an enormously positive impact on that country and others in the region, a State Department official said Tuesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was responding to an account in The Washington Post, which said that initial indications suggest that the find may well be the largest oil discovery worldwide in 20 years. The State Department's public response was cautious, with spokesman Richard Boucher pointing out that the claims are based on the production of a single well. He also noted that the commercial interests involved have not made any announcements as yet. Boucher said the matter was one of great interest to the United States, pointing out oil was high on the agenda of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during her recent trip to Central Asia. The administration has taken a keen interest in the placement of the pipelines that are planned or under construction for carrying Caspian oil to European markets. Boucher said officials have ``worked very hard in a concerted way with the people of the region'' on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which traverses Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Other officials noted that the administration wants to prevent Iran and Russia, two other Caspian countries, from dominating the oil trade in that region. Putin seen pushing Moscow's role on C.Asian visit By Mike Collett-White ALMATY, May 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will aim to reassert Moscow's position in the strategic Central Asian region on Thursday and Friday when he visits the former Soviet states of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Security concerns related to neighbouring Afghanistan are expected to top the agenda during talks between Putin, on his second trip abroad since being sworn in earlier this month, and the Uzbek leader Islam Karimov. And a deal whereby Turkmenistan, which also shares a border with war-torn Afghanistan, could supply huge volumes of gas via Russia, will be discussed during the second leg of the tour. ``Improved Russian-Uzbek relations are mainly due to concerns over security and the aim of strengthening the southern border of the old Soviet Union,'' said Andrei Grozin of the Moscow-based Institute for Integration and Diaspora. Karimov and Putin, prime minister at the time, found common ground when they met in the Uzbek capital Tashkent in December. Both see Afghanistan as a threat to stability in the volatile, resource-rich Central Asian region and beyond. Karimov narrowly escaped death when a series of bombs went off in Tashkent in February, 1999. He blamed the attacks on radical Islamic opponents suspected of operating from bases in Afghan territory controlled by the ruling Taleban militia. Putin believes there are links between the hardline Moslem movement and separatist fighters waging guerrilla warfare against Russian troops in Chechnya. Russian media have speculated that Putin and Karimov may agree on military and financial aid to Ahmad Shah Masood, the ethnic Tajik leader of an opposition alliance fighting the Taleban but controlling just 10 percent of Afghan territory. CONTRAST WITH YELTSIN WILL BE CLEAR Analysts agreed Putin would prove more assertive yet diplomatic than Boris Yeltsin in a region whose leaders have been keen to distance themselves from the capricious, sometimes heavy-handed, actions of Putin's predecessor. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov welcomed the apparent change in attitude. ``What we had five years ago, when they (Russia) forced ultimatums on us when they wanted to buy gas, will not be repeated,'' he said on state television on Wednesday. The contrast in styles will be underlined by memories of Yeltsin's 1998 visit to Uzbekistan, when a stumble followed by a curtailed stay in Kazakhstan due to illness signalled for many the beginning of the end of his leadership. In the Turkmen capital Ashgabat, Putin will discuss a deal for 50 billion cubic metres a year of gas going through Russia, though Niyazov said differences remain over pricing. The project is seen by some as a snub to Washington, which wants Niyazov to commit natural gas to a proposed trans-Caspian pipeline to Turkey, bypassing Russia and the ``rogue state'' Iran. Russian firms have lagged behind Western competitors in investing in the oil and gas wealth of the landlocked region, something Putin says he wants to put right. The recent visit to Uzbekistan and neighbouring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright prompted further action from Moscow, analysts said. Chevron to Boost Stake in Kazakh Oil Field to 50%, Reuters Says Astana, Kazakhstan, May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., the second-biggest U.S. oil company, will increase its stake in the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan to 50 percent by buying 5 percent of the field from the country's government for $450 million, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed Kazakh government source. The government's stake will be reduced to 20 percent. Chevron will also contribute funds to develop Kazakhstan's new capital, Astana, the source said. Exxon Mobil Corp. has 25 percent of the field, expected to yield 260,000 barrels of oil a day this year, while a joint venture of Atlantic Richfield Co. and Russia's OAO Lukoil Holding owns 5 percent, the agency said. Officials at Chevron, the Kazakh government, the country's state-owned company Kazakhoil and the Tengizchevroil joint venture declined to comment on the sale, which Kazakhstan has been considering since last August.
