El
Segundo, Calif., Aug. 13, 1996 -- Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) and
Delta Oil Company of Saudi Arabia said today they had signed a
memorandum of understanding with Russia's Gazprom and Turkmenistan's
Turkmenrusgaz as important additions to the consortium that plans to
build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via
Afghanistan.
The government of Turkmenistan also signed the memorandum at ceremonies held in Moscow.
The proposed pipeline would stretch nearly 900 miles from Turkmenistan's
Dauletabad field, across Afghanistan, to central Pakistan with an
expected throughput of up to 2.0 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas per
day. Cost is estimated at about $2 billion.
The
four companies will now proceed to negotiate a definitive agreement
defining the rights and obligations of the consortium members. Gazprom
will have a 10 percent interest in the consortium, while Turkmenrusgaz
will have 5 percent. Unocal and Delta hold the remaining 85 percent.
"This
is a long-term, complex project that offers significant potential
benefits to all of the parties," said Roger C. Beach, Unocal chairman
and chief executive officer. "Because of the complexities of the
project, we will be inviting other parties to join the consortium."
Joining
Beach in signing the MOU were President Saparmurat Niyazov of
Turkmenistan; Badr Al-Aiban, president of Delta; Mukhamed Orazov,
chairman of Turkmenrusgaz; and Rem Vyakhirev, chairman of Gazprom.
Unocal
had signed an agreement with the government of Turkmenistan in October
1995 giving Unocal the right to buy natural gas from specific,
certified and dedicated reserves in Turkmenistan, transport it to
Pakistan, and market it. The gas project would encompass construction
of a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and
development of marketing outlets in Pakistan.
Unocal
also had signed an agreement last year with Turkmenistan to develop an
oil pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to a crude oil
export terminal and/or refineries in Pakistan on the Indian Ocean.
This pipeline would transport crude oil from fields inside Turkmenistan
and from the surrounding region.
Unocal
and Delta are both members of another consortium in Azerbaijan that is
developing three giant oil fields offshore Baku in the Caspian Sea.
The consortium expects to export more than 200,000 barrels per day from
the "early oil" production program through two proposed pipeline routes
from Baku to the Black Sea. The first pipeline should begin operation
in late-1997