The mooted pipeline from the energy-rich Central Asian republic would likely run across Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey and Europe.
"A trans-Caspian gas pipeline to export Kazakh gas to Turkey and farther to Europe is one possible transportation route," Bakhtykozha Izmukhambetov said at a meeting with EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs in Astana, the country's capital.
"The Kazakh Energy Ministry considers it expedient to submit a proposal to the European Commission on studying the possibility of a trans-Caspian pipeline project and financing feasibility studies," Izmukhambetov said.
Piebalgs said the EU supported the idea of creating a fourth transportation corridor for gas supplies to Europe, even given broader cooperation with traditional gas suppliers like Russia and Algeria.
Supplies currently reach Europe by pipelines from Russia through Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the Blue Stream pipeline across the Black Sea to Turkey. Construction also recently started on the North European Gas Pipeline, a $10.5-billion joint Russian-German project being managed by energy giant Gazprom to construct a gas pipeline across the floor of the Baltic Sea.
Europe is seeking to diversify its energy sources after Russia temporarily cut off gas supplies to Ukraine last winter in a bitter dispute over gas prices, raising fears among European nations about stable gas supplies.
Kazakhstan's proven gas reserves are estimated at 3 trillion cubic meters.
