Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22
By Ali Mustafayev – Trend:
The Memorandum on the settlement of the dispute over the Karachaganak field was extended until the end of the first quarter of 2018, the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev said during a briefing in Astana on January 22, Kazakh media reported.
Last April, Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev said there are disagreements between the government of the country and the contractors of the Karachaganak project regarding the calculation of shares in production.
The KPO (Karachaganak Petroleum Operating) consortium offered to pay $300 million to settle disputes with the government over Karachaganak, but Kazakhstan rejected the offer.
"Currently we are in an active negotiating phase. We extend the Memorandum, concluded in 2017, until the end of the first quarter of 2018. This week my deputy and the shareholders of Karachaganak will start another round of negotiations. In general, common approaches have been worked out, and now we need to work out mechanisms to resolve the dispute," said Bozumbaev.
He added that both sides demonstrate a clear desire to agree and meet each other halfway.
The Karachaganak field is one of the largest in the world. Oil reserves of the field amount to 1.2 billion tons. Its gas reserves total 1.35 trillion cubic meters.
Development of Karachaganak, according to the PSA, is being implemented by the international KPO consortium consisting of Shell (29.25 percent), Eni (29.25 percent), Chevron (18 percent), LUKOIL (13.5 percent) and KazMunayGas (10 percent).