Chevron is in talks with BTC Co., operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the Interfax news agency reported, citing David Woodward, president of BP Plc-Azerbaijan. Chevron will deliver oil from its Tengiz field in Kazakhstan starting from 2007.

BP, Chevron, Eni SpA and their partners may agree this year on a $4 billion investment to boost oil exports across the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. Kazakhstan, the largest oil producer among the former Soviet states after Russia, plans to triple crude output by 2015 and is examining plans to build more tankers to haul crude to Azerbaijan.

Chevron shares are down 62 cents, just short of 1 percent, at $64.70 in the mid-afternoon. The stock remains near its recently set record high of $66.79.

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