Major oil pipeline opened in Kazakhstan

The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Kasymzhomart Tokayev, has opened a new pipeline that offers the first direct link between Caspian oil-fields and international markets.

The pipeline connects the west of Kazakhstan to the Russian Back Sea port of Novorossiysk: Mr Tokayev said the government had high hopes that it would unlock Kazakhstan's great oil wealth.

Fields in the Caspian Sea region Tengiz and Kashagan contain at least twenty billion barrels of oil and experts say it's likely that there is far more to be found.

There is also a vast amount of natural gas in the region.

The BBC Central Asia correspondent says the pipeline will potentially transform Kazakhstan's economy and make it a major oil exporter.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service