Three foreign investors withdraw from Kazakhstan's Caspian projects
By Aynur Jafarova
In 2012, three foreign investors in Kazakhstan simultaneously declared their intention to withdraw from projects in the Caspian Sea, Kazakh analytical journal Petroleum reported.
In spring French Total officially notified Kazakhstan's Ministry of Oil and Gas about its refusal to develop the Zhenis site. In September, the Italian concern Eni informed the Kazakh government officially and in a written statement about refusing from the Shagala site, the report said.
It said the withdrawal may have a negative impact on a number of infrastructure projects being implemented jointly by Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas and Eni at Кarachaganak (construction of a gas refinery) and reconstruction of Pavlodar Oil Refinery.
However, the loudest 'notification' on the shelf has come from ConocoPhillips, the report said. It said that in the summer of this year the company reportedly notified Kazakhstan and the partners that it does not exclude the sale of its shares in the Kashagan project.The report concluded that the experience in developing Kashagan and some other projects in the Caspian Sea shelf has shown that the cost of operations in the Caspian Sea was underestimated considerably -- twice at least. Also, a number of major failures in oil exploration in such projects as Кurmangazy, Tyub-Karagan and Аtash have reportedly affected the attractiveness of shelf projects.