Via Bloomberg, a report that China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, may agree next week on lending $10 billion to Kazakhstan in return for the right to take a stake in an oil producer in the Central Asian country. As the article notes: “…China National Petroleum Corp. plans to buy a minority holding in AO […]
Read more »According to Reuters, Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGas will create a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell to handle the production segment of the Kashagan oilfield. As noted in the article: “…Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said KazMunaiGas would take over production-related operations at Kashagan in five years and join its new operational structure, according to […]
Read more »Â As we have discussed many times previously, the existing pipeline architecture of Central Asia represents the regional imperialism of Cold War Russia, despite Turkmen and Kazakh flirtations with new Trans-Caspian pipeline projects to Azerbaijan to circumvent the Russian control over exports to Western Europe. A recent article by Robert M. Cutler of Carleton University in […]
Read more »Two interesting articles (among many) on the conclusion of months of protracted negotiations that have landed Kazakhstan with double its previous stake in the lucrative Kashagan oil fields, at the expense of the world’s leading oil companies. In a piece entitled “Big Oil Beaten in Kazakhstan”, Forbes notes: “…KazMunaiGaz, Kazakhstan’s state-owned energy company, is paying […]
Read more »As noted in Energy Daily, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov recently disclosed that he had sanctioned KazMunayGaz’s planned purchase of a major stake of MangistauMunayGaz, a move that would give the state-owned oil company shareholder veto power over company decisions, further diluting the power of Western investors. What this consolidation will mean both for the […]
Read more »From Eurasianet.org, a terrific look at Turkmenistan’s delicate balance of making promises to various regional hydrocarbon players, all without the benefit of a published, independent audit of the nation’s petroleum reserves. As the article notes: “…Turkmenistan is believed to be one of the top five nations in the world, in terms of natural gas reserves. […]
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