News Roundup - December 12, 2007

Stratfor: China, Kazakhstan: Pipelines and the Balance of Power

China has broken ground on the final portion of a pipeline linking the massive energy reserves of the Caspian Sea directly to China. That realization will be the culmination of 15 years of strategic planning, and will change the balance of power between China, Russia and the United States…

Hemscott: Kazakhstan-China pipeline to be completed in 2009 - company

A pipeline project linking Kazakhstan and China is to be completed in October 2009, Kazakhstan’s state-run oil group said…

Reuters: ENI CEO says London meet won’t solve Kashagan row

Italian oil group Eni’s Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said he did not believe a meeting with Kazakh officials in London on Wednesday would reach a definitive solution to the dispute over the Kashagan oilfield…

Guardian Unlimited: Eni CEO seen staying put as Kazakh dispute simmers

Italy is seen as likely to renew Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni’s mandate to run the state-controlled oil firm despite speculation about his future…

CNN Money: Kashagan wed meeting not viewed “conclusive” - Eni CEO

A meeting in London Wednesday between the consortium developing the Kashagan oil project and the Kazakhstan government following cost overruns and delays in output isn’t expected to be “conclusive”, said Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni of Eni SpA (E) Tuesday…

Eurasia Daily Monitor: Godfather of KazMunaiGas joins top echelons of power

On December 6 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Nurlan Balgimbayev to be his advisor. Shortly before the announcement, a new wave of administrative reforms replaced several regional governors and top government officials, including the ministers of finance and energy and mineral resources…

Registan.net: Tasty travels: Almaty, Kazakhstan

The New York Times discovers what the rest of us have known for many years: Almaty is an alright place to visit…

CNN Money: Eight Kazakh Banks’ outlook cut to negative on concerns over asset quality - S&P

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it cut the outlook on eight Kazakh banks to negative from stable citing concerns over the increasing pressure on asset quality and liquidity, with the credit market turmoil stretching on…

EurasiaNet: Russia seeking to keep Kazakhstan happy

It was Lord Palmerston, one of the chief architects of Britain’s imperial policy in the 19th century, who stated that a nation has no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev is putting a 21st century twist on Palmerston’s maxim and applying it to the Caspian Basin oil-and-gas game. Russia, as the state with the most to lose in the Caspian Basin at present, is heeding what Nazarbayev has to say…

TREND: Kazakhstan Needs to Maintain Predictability of Investment Climate – Ambassador

“As a friend of Kazakhstan we consider it important that Kazakhstan maintains a predictable investment climate,” the Netherlands Ambassador to Kazakhstan Klaas van der Tempel stated in an interview with the Trend Capital reporter…