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СonocoPhillips, Mubadala sign Kazakh offshore deal

Oil&Gas Materials 12 June 2009 01:46 (UTC +04:00)

ConocoPhillips (COP.N) has signed a deal to develop a Kazakhstan offshore field along with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Company and the state operator, the U.S. oil company said on Thursday, according to Reuters.

The "N" block, covering 8,100 square kilometers (3,100 sq miles) and located 30 kilometers (19 miles) off the Caspian seaport of Aktau, joins a growing number of energy projects in Kazakhstan. Chevron Corp (CVX.N), for one, produces more than a tenth of its output in the country.

ConocoPhillips and Mubadala signed a preliminary agreement last October, and then paid Kazakhstan a $100 million signing bonus a few months later, according to officials.

Conoco and Mubadala will each hold 24.5 percent in the block previously known as Nursultan, which is estimated to hold 270 million tonnes of oil in recoverable reserves, according to majority owner and state energy firm KazMunaiGas [KMG.UL].

KazMunaiGas Chief Executive Kairgeldy Kabyldin said in December they planned to launch commercial production in 2016 if all reserve estimates were confirmed, and that foreign partners would finance all exploration costs.

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