News Roundup - December 24, 2007

Reuters: Kazakhstan says Exxon stalling Kashagan talks

Kazakhstan and an Eni-led consortium of oil majors have set January15 as the new deadline for talks over the fate of the giant Kashagan oilfield, Kazakh energy minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Monday…

CNN Money: ExxonMobil Kashagan Resolution Terms ‘Risky’-Interfax

Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said Monday that U.S. ExxonMobil’s (XOM) conditions to resolve a dispute over the giant Kashagan oil field was risky for Kazakhstan and differed from the rest of the Eni SpA-led (E) consortium, Interfax news agency reported…

Reuters: Kazakhs win better terms on Kashagan, talks go on

The major oil companies overseeing the massive Kashagan oil project in Kazakhstan have conceded more profits from the field to the country, but the state wants a larger stake, industry sources said on Friday…

Wall Street Journal: Kashagan Disputes Continue

A Western consortium developing one of the world’s biggest oil fields agreed to pay the government of Kazakhstan as much as $4 billion in compensation for cost overruns and production delays, according to people close to the negotiations…

Financial Times: Kashagan partners close to deal over field cost

Kazakhstan and the group of oil companies led by Eni of Italy yesterday came close to a resolution of the dispute over the Kashagan oilfield after all the foreign partners agreed in principle to sell part of their stakes in the pro-ject to KazMunaigas, Kaz-akhstan’s state oil company…

BBC News: Kazakh oil field deadline delayed

Kazakhstan’s government has said that the deadline for talks with an Eni-led consortium about the Kashagan oil field has been delayed until 15 January…

Stratfor: Kazakhstan: Slipping Away From Moscow

The Kazakh and Russian presidents are meeting in Moscow on Dec. 20 to hash out a series of energy issues. The Russian grip on Kazakhstan is loosening, and Russia is in damage-control mode…

(Note: If this link does not bring you to Stratfor’s premium content, try searching for the article through Google News.)

Bloomberg: Kazakhstan’s Bank Lending Frozen in Subprime Squeeze

It’s November, and Kazakhstan’s one-time energy minister is in his office in Almaty, the former Soviet republic’s largest city. The chairman and principal owner of JSC Bank TuranAlem, Kazakhstan’s second-biggest financial institution by assets, Ablyazov is planning to roll up investments from Armenia to Russia into a holding company…

Financial Times: Little-known Kazakh miner poised for FTSE 100

The listing of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, the Kazakhstan-based mining group, on the London Stock Exchange this month was one of the largest floats of the year, but also one of the most low-key…

Financial Times: Russia seals Caspian gas pipeline deal

Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan finalised a landmark agreement on Thursday to build a pipeline to transport gas to Russia, tightening Moscow’s control over Central Asian gas exports…

TREND: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia have agreed of construction of the Pre-Caspian pipeline

President Putin has signed an agreement with his Kazakh and Turkmen counterparts to build the Pre-Caspian Sea gas pipeline. The U.S. and EU have been pushing for the alternative Trans-Caspian pipeline which would bypass Russia…

Itar-Tass: RF, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan sign Caspian gas pipe accord

Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed a long-awaited breakthrough intergovernmental agreement on construction of a Caspian gas pipeline on Thursday. This pipeline will supply the Turkmen gas bypassing the Caspian Sea along the sea eastern coast by new pipelines that will be integrated in the Russian gas supply system…

International Herald Tribune: Russia signs Central Asian pipeline deal

Desperate to meet growing domestic and European demand, Russia signed a major deal Thursday with the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea, a move that could strengthen Russia’s monopoly on energy exports from this region, analysts said…

Eurasia Daily Monitor: China secures new access to Kazakh oil

On December 11 Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov and Ma Fu Tsai, deputy chairman of the Chinese State Council Committee on Energy, arrived at Kenkiyak, a small settlement in Aktobe region, to announce the start date for construction of the 750-kilometer long Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipeline…

Reuters: Kazakh leader says Russia clears CPC oil link boost

Russia has lifted its opposition to the expansion of a Chevron-led oil export pipeline via its territory, known as the Caspian Pipeline Consortuim, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Thursday…

PR-USA: Kazakhstan Kagazy PLC: Financial Results for the Third Quarter

Kazakhstan Kagazy PLC, owner of Central Asia’s largest producer of paper, corrugated board and packaging products and one of the leading industrial real estate development companies in the country, today announced its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2007…

Gazeta.KZ: Kazakhstan could access WTO by 2008-2009

Kazakhstan could access the World Trade Organization (WTO) by 2008 - 2009 if protects during the negotiations its own interests. Such an opinion was expressed in the interview to KZ-today correspondent the source in the government…

Reuters: Kazakh ENRC plans domestic share offering in ‘08

London-listed Kazakh mining and metals group ENRC plans to offer shares on the Kazakh Stock Exchange in 2008, ENRC board member and Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Yergozhin said on Monday…

New York Times: The fuel fixers

James Giffen likes to share the wealth. His generosity to friends is said to have included $180,000 for jewelry, $30,000 for fur coats, a luxury speedboat, two snowmobiles and lots of cash. Overall, according to prosecutors in New York, Giffen gave more than $78 million to senior officials in Kazakhstan…

Reuters: Kazakhstan gold/forex reserves fall to $18.086 bln

Kazakhstan’s net gold and foreign currency reserves fell to $18.086 billion on Dec.19 from $18.117 billion on Nov. 30, the central bank said in a statement posted on its web site…