KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhan wants greater say in foreign-led Kashagan oilfield

Record ID: 343803

  • Title: KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhan wants greater say in foreign-led Kashagan oilfield
  • Date: 6th September 2007
  • Summary: (W2) BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN (FILE) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) PROTON ROCKET LAUNCHED ENGINEER ON GROUND WATCHES ROCKET ROCKET GOING UP INTO SKY
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kazakhstan
  • Country: Kazakhstan
  • Topics: International Relations,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVAKIG1V7P3AWKOLVV35VTXRQUO
  • Story Text: Kazakhstan piles pressure on Western oil consortium over delays and cost overruns at its Kashagan oilfield and warns the state energy company could take a greater role. The Kazakh Prime Minister Masimov says he will be seeking compensation after the crash of Russian rocket carrying Japanese telecoms satellite which took off from Baikonur space station.
    Kazakhstan warned an Eni-led consortium of Western oil companies on Thursday (September 6) the Kazakh state oil company could take a greater role in the Kashagan oilfield following a row over the project's delays and cost overruns.
    Kazakhstan has already suspended work at Kashagan, putting pressure on Eni and its partners Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp, Total, ConocoPhillips and Inpex Holdings Inc.
    Speaking on Thursday, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said state energy company KazMunaiGas should gain a bigger say in developing one of the world's biggest oil finds in three decades.
    "According to the Kazakh president's orders and demands, KazMunaiGas should be a co-operator," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Astana. "I will not say anything about percentages at this stage."
    KazMunaiGas currently has 8.3 percent in the project in a shallow part of the Caspian Sea.
    Masimov repeated claims of ecological damage caused by oil exploration in Kashagan, saying: "We think the ecological balance was disrupted to the detriment of the Kazakh side ". He added: " We have presented our demands and at the moment friendly talks continue to resolve this."
    A Russian space rocket carrying a Japanese satellite crashed on Thursday after blasting off from a launch pad in Kazakhstan, the Emergencies Ministry said.
    The unmanned Proton-M booster with the Japanese JCSAT-11 communications satellite on board crashed into open countryside after lifting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, it said.
    No one was injured.
    "The tentative place of the crash is 40 km (25 miles) to the south-west of the city of Zhezkazgan," the ministry said in a statement, referring to an industrial town in the centre of the Central Asian state.
    The emergencies ministry said the accident was caused by an engine malfunction. Proton rockets are filled with highly toxic fuel and its crash could cause environmental damage.
    The main Russian control centre near Moscow could not immediately be reached for comment.
    The accident is likely to add to tension between Russia and Kazakhstan over Baikonur, rented by Russia under a contract. Kazakhstan suspended launches from Baikonur pending an investigation into the crash, Russian television reported.
    Speaking to reporters in Astana, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov said he had ordered the creation of a state commission to investigate the crash.
    "The guilty will be punished and the ecological damage to our country will be compensated for by those responsible. The situation is under government control" Masimov said.
    Kazakh officials have long complained of environmental damage caused by the launches, and want to bring them under Kazakh control.
    KDP/CR/JRC
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