Kazakhstan, Astana, 19 Feb. / Trend, D. Mukhtarov /
Major competition in the oil and gas sector of Kazakhstan is unfolding between Chinese and Indian companies, the director of Risk Assessment Group, Doctor of Political Sciences, Dosym Satpayev said.
"Today, Kazakhstan's leadership is trying to create a balance of power in the country's oil and gas field by attracting Asian investors from China, South Korea and India. In contrast to Western multinational companies (MNCs), the majority of Asian oil and gas companies in Kazakhstan operate not on the basis of PSAs, but rather in accordance with the norms of the new current tax law. Meanwhile, major competition is unfolding between Chinese and Indian companies," Satpayev told Trend.
In his view, the fact that ConocoPhillips has announced its agreement to sell an 8.4 percent stake in the project on development of the Kashagan field not to Chinese, but to Indian ONGC Videsh Limited defines the interesting trends.
"Involvement in the Kashagan project is fundamental for Indian companies, given the growing competition for access to oil and gas resources around the world. It is possible that such competition in the country is specifically encouraged by the government of Kazakhstan," he said.
According to the analyst, withdrawal of ConocoPhillips from Kashagan was hardly due to tightening of government policy in Kazakhstan for foreign companies.
"There are many countries with even tougher investment climates. Some experts believe that the sale of shares in Kashagan is part of an overall strategy of ConocoPhillips to withdraw from several oil and gas projects in various regions of the world in order to optimize assets," Satpayev said.
According to him, the American company has already announced the sale of its business in Algeria to the Indonesian oil and gas company Pertamina for $ 1.75 billion. ConocoPhillips also sold some of its oil and gas assets in the U.S to Denbury Resources for $ 1.05 billion. In Peru, the company decided to exit two oil and gas blocks.
"Regarding the case of Statoil, which has decided to withdraw from the Abay project in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, there were many factors leading to the decision. This could also be due to a dispute with the Kazakh side and Statoil's decision to invest about $ 5.72 billion in projects in the Arctic. That is, we are again talking about a shift of priorities for the company," Satpayev concluded.