Oman may sell Caspian pipeline stake if offer right

Muscat: Oman would consider selling its 7 per cent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) if it receives a favourable offer, a finance ministry official said on Saturday.

"If the offer is right, then why not? We have had a few interested parties but nobody put in a firm proposal," said the official, who declined to be named.

Last month, Kazakhstan and Russia voiced interest in buying Oman's 7 per cent stake in CPC should the Gulf state decide to sell out.

Shareholders in CPC, the key export route for Kazakh crude, are struggling to come to terms on the pipeline's expansion, with Russia, the key host state, opposing the plan.

Industry sources told Reuters last month that Oman, frustrated with delays, had decided to quit the project.

"We are not really frustrated, as reported earlier, with the project but we may sell purely from a business point of view," the official said.