BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings agency has affirmed Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas national company at the level of BB+ with a stable outlook, Trend reports via the agency.
Moreover, the agency revised its assessment of the "likelihood of government support" to KazMunayGas from "high" to "very high".
According to the agency, this rating is due to the very important role of the company to Kazakhstan's government, being its main asset in the strategic hydrocarbon industry, with priority access to new assets and stakes in all the country's significant oil ventures.
The rating agency predicts that KazMunayGas is more likely to remain a large exporter, taxpayer, employer, and supplier of low-priced fuel to the domestic market.
In addition, the company's very strong link with the state also contributed to the revision of its "likelihood of government support" rating.
"We think the government will remain the major shareholder of KazMunayGas with its stake not falling below 75 percent in the medium term," said the agency.
The stable outlook reflects the agency's view that KazMunayGas's involvement in the refining and oil transportation segments, as well as its sizable liquidity buffer, should somewhat offset the risks of short-term disruption of oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).
The CPC pipeline was shut down for 72-hour-long repair work. Although the timetable for scheduled repairs was available well in advance, the shutdown led to significant speculation on the possible reasons for the stop.