Following talks with Kazakh Prime Minister Imanghali Tasmaghambetov in Astana on 16 April, ChevronTexaco's CEO David O'Reilly announced that his company will increase its production of Kazakh oil from its present amount of 13 million metric tons per year to 20 million tons per year by 2005. To this end, ChevronTexaco will invest some $1.5 billion over the next three years to expand the production capacity of the Tengizchevroil joint venture. O'Reilly noted that ChevronTexaco's investments in Kazakh projects to date amount to $1.4 billion. The company holds a 50 percent stake in the joint venture and a 15 percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline, launched last year, which transports oil from the Tengiz oil field in western Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. (Interfax)