Astana, Kazakhstan, Jan.5
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Jointly with authorized organizations, Kazakh and Russian energy ministries are working on agreeing on the draft protocol for making amendments to the agreement on Khvalynsk project, Kazakh Energy Ministry told Trend.
The agreement was signed between the two countries on July 6, 1998.
"Following this, it is expected to sign a production sharing agreement (PSA) for subsoil use of Khvalynsk oil and gas condensate field," said the ministry.
Kazakh ministry said that an interagency commission was created in Russia in April 2011 to define the conditions for the subsoil use and to work out the draft PSA.
Negotiations on the PSA terms on Khvalynsk field have been held with government bodies in Russia since 2011.
"Currently, the issue of achieving acceptable cost efficiency by KazMunaiGas and LUKOIL is being studied," said the ministry.
The Khvalynsk project is being implemented in accordance with the protocol dated May 13, 2002 to the Kazakh-Russian agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use dated July 6, 1998.
Kazakhstan and Russia drew a line between their sectors in the Caspian Sea in 2002 and defined three border structures: 'Kurmangazy', 'Khvalynsk' and 'Central'.
The reserve of Khvalynsk is estimated at 332 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 17 million metric tons of gas condensate and 36 million metric tons of oil. Around $1 billion worth of investments are needed for the development of this field.
Edited by CN