KazMunaiGas to shed half of Kashagan field stake

KazMunaiGas, the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan, is reportedly selling half of its stake in the Kashagan oil field, in the Caspian Sea, to the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna for $4.7 billion. 

KazMunaiGas has 16.81 percent stake in the offshore field and other partners in the project include ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, Eni, CNPC and INPEX.

According to Reuters, KazMunaiGas is selling half of its stake in the field to Samruk in order to reduce its debt related to this oil project by about $2.2 billion. The company is hoping to close the deal in November.

To remind, after many delays and cost overruns, the Kashagan field started production in September 2013 only to stop the operations several weeks later due to gas leaks detected in the pipelines.

The field is not expected to resume output before 2017 as the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), that acts as the Operator of the project on behalf of a Consortium of seven oil and gas companies, decided to fully replace the affected offshore pipelines.

The Kashagan Field is located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, in the territorial waters of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and extends over a surface area of approximately 75 km x 45 km. It is estimated that Kashagan contains approximately 4.5 billion tons of oil.

New CEO

After its previous Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Abat Nurseitov, left the company in September, KazMunaiGas Exploration Production on Monday appointed Kurmangazy Iskaziev as its new CEO.

Iskaziev previously held the position of CEO of JSC Embamunaigas (EMG), one of the core production assets of KMG EP.

Christopher Hopkinson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of KMG EP introduced the new CEO at the Board of Directors meeting and said: “Mr Iskaziev has extensive experience in applying new technologies and increasing production efficiency. He has been successfully implementing new projects in his position of CEO of EMG over the last 8 months. We look forward to seeing Mr Iskaziev use his positive experience and apply his professional skills for the benefit of KMG EP Group.”

The new CEO has announced his commitment to maximising the operational and financial performance of the company, KMG EP has said.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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