ASTANA, July 2. /TASS/. The construction of a gas processing plant at a major Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan with the participation of shareholders, including oil and gas companies Eni and Shell, will be revised, with the republic’s authorities planning to implement the project independently with the participation of national companies, Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry reported.
“The Energy Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan informs that the implementation of the project for the construction of a gas processing plant at the Karachaganak field within the framework of the current production sharing agreement with the participation of project shareholders is being revised. At the current stage, the ministry has initiated the development of alternative mechanisms to implement the project outside the framework of the agreement, with priority involvement of national companies,” the ministry said.
The government had demanded that Eni and Shell carry out an orderly transfer of project management and contractual rights to the national company KazMunayGas since the republic has become disillusioned with the project, the Upstream portal wrote. Foreign shareholders have spent a total of around $60 mln to prepare the project. Now Kazakhstan will have to negotiate compensation and terms for transferring control over the project with Western companies, the portal said.