The construction of a gas processing plant at the large Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan with the participation of shareholders, including oil and gas companies Eni and Shell, will be reviewed; the republic's authorities plan to implement the project independently with the participation of national companies. This was reported by the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan.
„The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan informed that the implementation of the project to build a gas processing plant at the Karachaganak field under the current production sharing agreement with the participation of the project's shareholders is being reviewed. “At this stage, the ministry has initiated the development of alternative mechanisms for implementing the project outside the framework of the agreement, including the participation of national companies,“ the statement said.
According to the portal Upstream, the government has asked Eni and Shell to carry out an orderly transfer of project management and contractual rights to the national company KazMunayGas, as Kazakhstan is disappointed with the project. Foreign shareholders have spent a total of about $60 million on preparing the project. Kazakhstan will now be forced to negotiate compensation and terms for transferring control of the project with Western companies, the portal claims.