Russ Oil-Gas

30 November 2006 - Upstream staff - Kazakhstan is in talks with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to raise its gas transit price to $1.60 per 1000 cubic metres per 100 kilometres from the current price of $1.10 per Mcm per 100 kilometres, the Kazakh Energy Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov said today. Gazprom buys gas from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan which is pumped via Kazakhstan for domestic consumption, freeing up more of its own gas to be sold to richer markets in Europe. "We are in talks to raise the price further," Izmukhambetov told Reuters. "We've always been in talks about this. We hold negotiations on this every year." State gas transport company Kaztransgaz said earlier this year it wanted to raise annual profits from Russian gas transit by at least a third to 18.6 billion tenge ($140 million). Gazprom was not immediately available for comment. Last year Gazprom signed a five-year contract with Kazakh state oil player KazMunaiGaz to raise transit of Uzbek and Turkmen gas via Kazakhstan to 55 billion cubic metres.