KazCham

Business Intelligence from Colibri Law Firm: Issue #107

Italian Eni S.p.A. announced entering into a joint exploration agreement of Isatay block in the north Capsian Sea with KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company.

The agreement defines the commercial terms of transfer of 50 percent interest in the Isatay block, believed to hold significant potential oil resources, to Eni.

KMG and Eni will establish a joint operating company, with each holding a 50 percent stake, to operate the block.

 

Steel Guru, Oct 22, 2012

Mr Ulrich Bentersbuch director of global energy policy for the International Energy Agency said that oil exports from Kazakhstan should more than double by 2035. Kazakhstan is set to become the fourth-largest contributor to global oil production growth.

The Kashagan oil field in the country is one of the largest in the world with as much as 16 billion barrels of estimated commercial reserves. Its Karachaganak field holds about 2.4 billion barrels of oil and an estimated 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Apart from oil and natural gas, the IEA director praised Kazakhstan for its green energy initiatives. The government there set a goal of generating 4% of its electricity through wind power by 2020 and to cut energy consumption by 10% of their 2008 levels by 2015.

A subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni was accused in May of corruption in Kazakhstan. The company was suspected of offering bribes to high ranking officials.

Source – Kazakhstan Today

(www.steelguru.com)

HEADLINES:

Kazakhstan accuses Eni of $110-million fraud
(SRI) – Kazakhstan’s authorities accused Eni SpA, the Italian energy group, of a $110-million fraud committed while operating the giant Kashagan offshore project.

Kazakh officials press for review of oil and gas contracts
(SRI) – Kazakh officials pressed for the need to review production sharing agreements (PSAs) with foreign oil and gas majors and harmonize them with the current legislation.

Kazakh bribe defendant is Cold War hero – N.Y. judge
(AP) – A businessman once accused of bribing officials in Kazakhstan was praised as a Cold War hero Friday by a judge who said he helped thousands of Soviet Jews emigrate to the West and played a key role in secret talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the time.

ENERGY:

Kazakhs may jail oil executives for ecological damage (Bloomberg)

Environmental damage cased by oil companies in 2010 exceeds KZT5 billion (Interfax)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

BTA Bank reports positive 2010 results driven by restructuring (SRI)

Will Kazakhstan stay as flour export leader in 2010/11? (AgriMarket.Info)

Government not to support enterprises that are on the verge of bankruptcy – Deputy PM (Interfax)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates Novembver 20-22, 2010 (Kazakhstan Today)

Indicators – November 19, 2010 (Reuters)

SOCIETY:

Taking on Kazakhstan’s Kafkaesque bureaucracy with Soviet-style samizdat (EurasiaNet)

Nation-hopping Kazakh trio thrown out of hockey tournament (Reuters)

REGIONAL:

Turkmenistan says wins backing for gas to Europe (Reuters)

Caspian states may impose sturgeon fishing ban – Moscow (AFP)

Azerbaijan frees second critical blogger (Reuters)

ENERGY:

Kazakhstan sees 2011 oil output at 81 million tonnes (Reuters)

BG, Eni-led Kazakh venture engineer gunned down near his home (Bloomberg)

CPC October program at 2.877 million tons, up 172,500 tons on month (Dow Jones)

BMB Munai reaches restructuring agreement (PR Newswire)

Tethys begins oil sales in Kazakhstan under test scheme (Proactive Investors)

Ukrainian-Kazakh construction of LNG terminal postponed – official (Interfax – Kyiv Post)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

BTA says $5 billion in Russian loans “problematic” (SRI)

Chagala revenues jump in H1 (SRI)

Kazakh companies should invest at home – Samruk-Kazyna (New Europe)

Kazakhstan coal supplies to Russia threatened by lack of rail cars (RIA Novosti)

Kazakhstan not to impose limitations for grain exports (AgriMarket.Info)

Kazakhstan to supply 1.5 million tonnes of grains to Russia (AgriMarket.Info)

KTZh to receive $665,000 from USTDA to improve rail infrastructure (Interfax)

Kazakhstan falls five places in Global Competitiveness Report (Interfax)

Kazakhstan to start introducing EU construction standards in 2011 (Interfax)

METALS AND MINING:

ENRC steps up defence of Congo deal (Financial Times)

Kazakh Jan-Aug copper output rises 7.8% year-on-year (Reuters)

POLITICS:

Kazakh president’s confidant dies (Reuters)

SCO exercises in Kazakhstan to train new counter terrorism techniques (Itar-Tass)

REGIONAL:

20 militants killed on Tajik-Afghan border – official (AFP)

Wildfires destroy over 400 homes in Siberia (Reuters)

Georgia eyes tourist future for one-time rebel hotspot (AFP)

SOURCE: http://silkroadintelligencer.com/2010/09/14/kazakhstan-daily-news-roundup-september-13-2010/

HEADLINES:

Temirbank to return to profit in 2010 following successful debt restructuring
(SRI) – Temirbank, one of four Kazakh lenders which had defaulted in 2009, expects to post net profit of KZT2-3 billion ($13.6-20.4 million) this year, following the completion of its debt restructuring, its CEO Yerzhan Shaikenov said on Monday.

BTA to issue bonds to complete restructuring
(SRI) – BTA Bank, Kazakhstan’s third largest bank, will place nine bonds issues as part of its debt restructuring plan, the bank said in a statement.

Oil in Kazakhstan may be too rich for tax to deter Chevron – energy markets
(Bloomberg) – Kazakhstan’s oil reserves may be too valuable for an export-tax increase to deter companies from drilling for crude in the former Soviet republic.

ENERGY:

Ministry of Oil and Gas revokes 10 subsoil licenses (SRI)

Kazakhstan’s oil grab (The Oil and the Glory)

U.S. Ambassador demonstrates support for Karachaganak group (Dow Jones – NASDAQ)

Tethys Petroleum re-enters Akkulka well to test extension of Doris oil discovery (Proactive Investors)

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Kazakhs drop planned 2010 Eurobond sale after $1 billion World Bank loan (Bloomberg)

Kazakh National Bank not to revise inflation forecast for 2010 (Interfax)

Headhunter Antal Russia opens in Almaty (EmergingMarkets.me)

Surrey building Kazakh Earth observation satellite for 2013 launch (Space News)

Cheyne’s Habib guits for Kazakh private equity gig (FINalternatives)

Kazakhstan may spent KZT580 billion on modernization of utilities in 2011-2015 (Interfax)

POLITICS:

Kazakhstan secures OSCE summit commitment (EurasiaNet)

REGIONAL:

Southern Kyrgyzstan forces may have used torture – UN (AFP)

Italy’s ENI turns to Azerbaijan for Nabucco supply (Reuters)

China seeks copper, tungsten, chromium in Central Asia – Ernst & Young (Bloomberg)

SOURCE: http://silkroadintelligencer.com/2010/07/21/kazakhstan-daily-news-roundup-july-21-2010/

(SRI) – Eni SpA, the Italian oil major, reportedly invested $4.5 billion into the Kashagan oil field as of the end of 2009, according to the company’s annual report.

The total sum consists of $3.4 billion expenditures to develop the oil field and $1.1 billion to acquire interests of partners that had exited the Kashagan consortium. Eni holds a 16.81-percent stake in the project, along with U.K.’s Shell, French Total, U.S.-based ExxonMobil and Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGas, all of which hold the same stake, and U.S.-based ConocoPhillips and Japanese Inpex which hold 8.4 percent and 7.56 percent, respectively.

Eni expects “further capital expenditure […] to build the infrastructure needed for exporting production to international markets” in addition to costs for developing the field, according to its 2009 annual report.

The first phase of the Kashagan project, before the field start pumping oil, will reportedly cost $32.2 billion.

Eni said it expects daily output of 370,000 barrels in 2014, with production peaking at 1.5 million barrels, making the field one of the world’s biggest.

SOURCE: http://silkroadintelligencer.com/2010/04/13/enis-investment-in-kashagan-totals-45-billion-as-of-2009/