Italian energy giant Eni announced on February 13th that it had won the operatorship of Kazakstan’s massive Kashagan oil field.
Eni’s subsidiary Agip will operate the offshore field, which could prove the largest oil discovery in three decades.
Kazak Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev had said on February 12th that Eni could be named operator of the Offshore Kazakstan International Operating Co. (OKIOC) to develop the giant oil field.
The nine-member OKIOC consortium met with the Kazak government on February 12th to discuss the operatorship issue.
Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev had called on the consortium to select an operator in January or risk losing the project, with many industry insiders speculating that French-Belgian oil giant TotalFinaElf would clinch the position.
TotalFinaElf had expressed interest in the role and had announced on February 2nd that it would buy BP Amoco’s share in the project and on February 12th that it would also take Statoil’s stake.
TotalFinaElf had held a 14.3 percent interest in Kashagan, but with the purchase of BP and Statoil’s shares, that percentage would grow to 28.5 percent.
Other partners include Phillips Petroleum Co., Exxon Mobil Corp., BG, Royal Dutch/Shell and Japan’s Inpex. A senior OKIOC official indicated that further ownership changes could occur in the coming months.
The OKIOC had discovered oil at Kashagan in July 2000 at its first test well in the offshore field and is currently drilling a second test well.
Nazarbayev has boasted that the estimated reserves from Kashagan could well lift his country’s crude output from about 615,000 b/d to 8 million b/d by 2015, putting it in the same league as OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
