Kazakhstan waits for potential participants of Eurasia project
By Aynur Karimova
Energy-rich Kazakhstan believes that potential participants of the Eurasia project will soon take a decision on the study and exploration of hydrocarbon deposits in the Caspian basin.
The government expects to receive intentions of participation in this project by late May, Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev was quoted by Novosti-Kazakhstan as saying on April 14.
"We are well aware that a decision on participation in such a complex project requires a certain time. Therefore, appealing to potential participants of the consortium, I want to say that we look forward to their decision by the end of the spring, that is, until the end of May," the minister said during a round table.
In October 2015, the Kazakh government approved a list of privileges and preferences, which is an initial step towards negotiations with potential participants of the $500-million worth project.
The Eurasia project, to be implemented in 2016 to 2020, targets studying deep-water geological structure of the region to enable discovery of new and huge hydrocarbons recources.
The project initiated in Atyrau in 2014 stipulates the exploration of deep laying horizons of the Caspian Basin, both on land and at sea, located on the territory of Kazakhstan and Russia.
The project will be carried out in three phases. The first phase envisages the collection and processing of materials from previous years. The second phase includes large-scale research. The last phase includes the drilling of a new support-parametric well called Caspian 1, at the depth of nearly 14-15 kilometers.
The potential payoff for the Eurasia project is huge - up to some 50 billion tons of oil and oil equivalent.
Currently, Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry jointly with the Committee of Geology and Subsoil Use and the KazMunaiGas National Company is holding initial talks with potential participants on various aspects of the project.
"We are open to discussion and proposals from potential participants of the Eurasia project. We are in active dialogue with our Russian partners and with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on this issue," Bozumbayev stated.
Earlier, the Kazakh Energy Ministry told Trend that Kazakhstan currently holds meetings and consultations with such leading global oil, gas and service companies as the U.S. Chevron, the French Total, Russia's Lukoil and Rosneft, China's CNPC, India's ONGC and others regarding the terms of their possible involvement in the Eurasia project.
The prospects of realizing the Eurasia project are huge and it can bring huge benefits to Kazakhstan, in particular huge investments and financial revenues, new technologies and decrease of dependence on old oil fields.
Experts believe that Kazakhstan, which desires the participation of international companies in the Astana-initiated project, will see more interest of big oil companies in its Eurasia project.
The main condition on the way of involving leading energy companies in this project is the oil price in the world markets as in the current low oil prices and a glut of oil on the world markets the Eurasia project probably does not look so attractive.
The Eurasia project is considered by the Kazakh government as a possibility to avoid the energy-rich Central Asian nation from decrease of oil resources.
Current forecasts show that global oil production is likely to decrease in about 15-25 years due to depleted reserves by that time. Kazakhstan’s giant oil fields - Tengiz and Kashagan - are among those fields that are predicted to see reduced output after 2040.
In this regard, Kazakhstan needs to discover and develop new fields and the Eurasia project offers such a possibility.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter @Aynur_Karimova
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