Kazakhstan, Astana, 28 February / Trend corr K. Konirova/ On 28 February, the Kazakhstan Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the national company KazMunayGaz signed a contract in Astana on hydrocarbon exploration in the Zhambil field located in the northern section of the Caspian Sea.
"The forecasted reserves in the field are assessed at 120-130mln tons of oil," the Kazakh Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Sauat Minbaev said to journalists.
Zhambil is located 4- 9 metres deep in the northern section of the Caspian Sea's shelf and 180km away from the Aktau port.
"KazMunayGaz is expected to pass the right for utilization of natural wells to its subsidiary (73%) the Korean consortium -which includes the Korean National Oil Corporation (27%)," he said.
The President of KazMunayGaz- Uzakbay Karabalin, who also participated in the meeting, added that the planned amount of investments - intended for the exploration work, comprises $41mln.
"According to the regulations, the period envisaged for the exploration is six years," Karabalin said.