Sunday March 7,2010
By Tracey Boles
KAZAKHSTAN, the landlocked central Asian country larger than the whole of Western Europe, grabbed the attention of the world’s biggest oil companies in 2000 with the discovery of the giant Kashagan oil field.
As the biggest discovery in the world for three decades, the field in the Caspian Sea – the world’s largest lake – instantly became the jewel in the crown of Kazakhstan’s vast oil and gas reserves.
Shell eagerly joined the rush to develop the huge find. Since those heady days much has changed.
Extracting the oil from Kashagan has proved geologically complicated. Costs have risen from £37billion to an estimated £88billion and the project is years away from production.
The political climate in Kazakhstan has also shifted. Exiled Kazakhs warn that a culture of corruption is running rife, that those willing to pay are securing lucrative deals under the patronage of President Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev.
Chinese investors now have significant stakes in seven out of its top 10 major oil fields. Earlier this month, the government ramped up pressure on Western oil partners by threatening to dissolve long-standing contracts. Shell and UK exploration firm BG Group are among those facing tax rises as a result.
For British firms a lot is at stake. Britain is Kazakhstan’s third largest foreign investor, primarily in natural resources. There are 128 companies with British investors behind them registered in Kazakhstan. Shell has a 16.8 per cent stake in the consortium developing the Kashagan field.
Kazakhstan, once part of the old Soviet Union and now most famous to a majority of people for fictitious film buffoon Borat, is a presidential republic. Its communist-era leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, became president when it declared independence in December1991. He has the power to veto legislation.
Critics of the regime say government-owned means “ruling family owned”. Using a web of front companies and nominee shareholders, the family is believed to own much of the oil, gas and mining sectors and dominates the banking industry.
Source: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/162018/Kazakhstan-threatens-UK-oil-interests
By Tracey Boles
KAZAKHSTAN, the landlocked central Asian country larger than the whole of Western Europe, grabbed the attention of the world’s biggest oil companies in 2000 with the discovery of the giant Kashagan oil field.
As the biggest discovery in the world for three decades, the field in the Caspian Sea – the world’s largest lake – instantly became the jewel in the crown of Kazakhstan’s vast oil and gas reserves.
Shell eagerly joined the rush to develop the huge find. Since those heady days much has changed.
Extracting the oil from Kashagan has proved geologically complicated. Costs have risen from £37billion to an estimated £88billion and the project is years away from production.
The political climate in Kazakhstan has also shifted. Exiled Kazakhs warn that a culture of corruption is running rife, that those willing to pay are securing lucrative deals under the patronage of President Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev.
Chinese investors now have significant stakes in seven out of its top 10 major oil fields. Earlier this month, the government ramped up pressure on Western oil partners by threatening to dissolve long-standing contracts. Shell and UK exploration firm BG Group are among those facing tax rises as a result.
For British firms a lot is at stake. Britain is Kazakhstan’s third largest foreign investor, primarily in natural resources. There are 128 companies with British investors behind them registered in Kazakhstan. Shell has a 16.8 per cent stake in the consortium developing the Kashagan field.
Kazakhstan, once part of the old Soviet Union and now most famous to a majority of people for fictitious film buffoon Borat, is a presidential republic. Its communist-era leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, became president when it declared independence in December1991. He has the power to veto legislation.
Critics of the regime say government-owned means “ruling family owned”. Using a web of front companies and nominee shareholders, the family is believed to own much of the oil, gas and mining sectors and dominates the banking industry.
Source: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/162018/Kazakhstan-threatens-UK-oil-interests
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