News Roundup - December 26, 2007

International Herald Tribune: Kazakh government seeks to double its stake in Eni-led oil project

Kazakhstan is seeking to more than double its stake in the Kashagan oil project, led by the Italian company Eni, as compensation for delays and cost overruns, a government official said Tuesday…

Reuters: Kazakhstan says seeks 16.8 pct stake in Kashagan

Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Tuesday his country was seeking a 16.8 percent stake in the giant Kashagan oilfield, confirming earlier plans to get a stake equal to those of the projects’ largest participants…

Reuters: Japan firms, Kazatomprom plan nuclear fuel project

Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Co said on Wednesday it and trading house Sumitomo Corp would sign an accord with Kazakh state-owned nuclear firm Kazatomprom on cooperation in uranium processing to fuel Kansai’s nuclear power plants…

RIA Novosti: Japanese firms, Kazakhstan prepare uranium production from 2010

Japanese companies are set for cooperation with the Kazakh government to launch nuclear fuel production in Kazakhstan in 2010, the Japanese economics ministry said on Wednesday…

Global Voices: Debates over Latinization of Kazakh Language

Kazakhstan intends to switch the state language to the Latin script. It was announced that the transition will take 12-15 years. As adam_kesher writes, the plan stirred many disputes and arguments – in particular, Russia and a part of Kazakhstan’s Russian-speaking population considers switching to Latin is an adverse move against them…

RIA Novosti: Caspian pipeline seems to have defeated Nabucco

The last few months of 2007 were good for Russia, which has been fighting this year to affirm its leadership in the hydrocarbons market…

Neweurasia.net: Dangerous Places

I decided to analyze - where it is more dangerous to live in our country in the cities or in the rural areas? In order to do so, I reviewed the mortality caused by accidents, traumas and poisoning in 2005…

TREND: The PreCaspian Gas Pipeline Excludes Construction of TransCaspian: Expert

The PreCaspian gas pipeline can act as a strict rival to the TransCaspian gas pipeline, or even rule out its construction, Konstantin Batunin, an analyst of an investment company Alfa Bank, stated…

4Hoteliers.com: Hilton’s first in Kazakhtan

Hilton Hotels Corporation has today announced that it is set to open its first hotel in Kazakhstan through a management agreement with Expo-Center Astana LLP. The new Hilton Astana, which will have approximately 237 rooms, is scheduled to open in the country’s capital city in the first quarter of 2010…

Neweurasia.net: Crisis has gone?

Mukhtar Ablyazov, Kazakhstan’s one-time energy minister and political prisoner, currently the chairman and principal owner of JSC Bank TuranAlem, country’s second-largest financial institution by assets, gave an interview to Bloomberg recently…

Interfax: Anti-inflation policy Kazakhstan’s 2008 priority - Masimov

Anti-inflation policy is a priority of the Kazakh government in 2008, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov said…

St. Petersburg Times: A Little Oil Firm Playing a Big Game

In a time of fast-encroaching state control over the oil sector, Imperial Energy is a rare bird. Founded in 2004 by a flamboyant English lawyer, the London-listed firm has seen a lot in its short history…

The Oil and the Glory: A Possible Kashagan Settlement; Exxon Tries to Keep the Old Days Alive

The signs are that the Italian-led partners developing the suspended supergiant Kashagan oilfield are near a settlement with Kazakhstan…

Platform: Kazakhstan to lose $20 billion from “greedy” oil contract

Kazakhstan is set to lose up to $20 billion in the next 10 years, due to an unfair contract to extract the world’s largest undeveloped oilfield. These are the findings of a report released today by development and environment organisations, as a dispute between the Kazakhstan government and oil companies failed today to reach its conclusion…

Reuters: German private jet crashes in Kazakhstan, one dead

A small German-owned private jet crashed during take-off from Almaty airport on Wednesday, killing its only passenger, Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry said…