http://en.rian.ru/world/20071225/94049950.html
Kazakhstan hopes to double its stake in Kashagan oil deposit
ASTANA, December 25 (RIA Novosti) - The government of Kazakhstan hopes to
increase its stake in a massive oil field on the country's Caspian shelf from
the current 8.3% to 16.8%, the Kazakh energy minister said on Tuesday.
The Kashagan field is currently operated by Italy's Eni under a production
sharing agreement. The Italian oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and
Total hold 18.5% each in the project, while ConocoPhillips has 9.3%, and
Japan's Inpex and Kazakhstan's government-controlled KazMunaiGas own 8.3% each.
"We hope to increase Kazakhstan's stake to 16.8%. We have agreed with all
consortium participants on the whole. We have also reached an agreement on
prices with five companies, but failed to agree with Exxon Mobil. That is why,
the negotiation process has been extended until January 15," Sauat Mynbayev
said.
In late July, the project operator suggested that the deadline to begin
commercial production should be shifted from the second half of 2008 to the
second half of 2010, with operating costs increasing from $57 billion to $136
billion.
In late August, the Kazakh government suspended Eni's license to develop the
Kashagan field for three months. The Kazakh Ministry of Environmental
Protection said the Eni operations could cause disastrous environmental damage.
The Kazakh government also raised the issue of increasing Kazakhstan's stake in
the project.
In mid-December, KazMunaiGas announced that a memorandum of understanding had
been signed with the Kashagan consortium. Under the memorandum, all the parties
except Exxon agreed to transfer parts of their stakes in the project increasing
the Kazakh government's share, as a compromise over delays and cost rises.
In line with the compromise, the parties were expected to complete talks by
December 20 on the transfer of shares.
Meanwhile, Daulet Yergozhin, a deputy finance minister of Kazakhstan, said on
Monday that delays in solving the issue were not in the interests of the
companies involved in the project.
"I believe this issue will be solved sooner or later and it will be solved in
the interests of the state. We have every chance of safeguarding our position
both legally and morally," he said.
According to the latest estimates, Kashagan's recoverable reserves amount to
7-9 billion barrels of oil.
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