* Vitol wins $1 bln pre-finance deal for KMG share
* Export deal strengthens Vitol's position in Kazakhstan
* Kashagan output seen rising to 7 mln tonnes in 2018 (Recasts, adds context)
MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The world's largest oil traderVitol has won the right to export Kazakhstan's share of outputfrom the giant Kashagan field, further strengthening itsposition in the central Asian nation as it prepares for an oilproduction jump.
Vitol has been the dominant force of Kazakhstan's oilexports for over a decade, taking barrels mainly to Russianports and shipping them to European refineries.
The country is now preparing to start commercial output atKashagan - one of the world's biggest discoveries of the pastdecades - in October following years of delays caused by theproject's technical complexity.
Kashagan's output will be modest at the start at between50,000 and 1 million tonnes this year, 3 million to 5 milliontonnes next year but rising to 7 million tonnes in 2018, KazakhEnergy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said in May.
The first phase is designed to produce as much as 20 milliontonnes at its peak, possibly rising to as much as 50 milliontonnes if new investment is approved.
Kazakhstan holds 16.88 percent in Kashagan via KMG Kashagan(KMG), a subsidiary of Kazakh national oil company Kazmunaygaz.
The Kashagan consortium also includes Eni, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total,China's CNPC and Japan's Inpex.
KMG said in a statement on its website it had chosen Vitolto arrange a prepayment for KMG's share in the Kashagan fieldoil worth $1 billion. It said the tender closed on Aug. 3without providing other details. Vitol declined to comment. (Reporting by Gleb Gorodyankin and Alla Afanasyeva, writing byby Olga Yagova/Dmitri Zhdannikov; editing by David Clarke andSusan Thomas)
