News Roundup

News Roundup - January 14, 2008

By SRI ⋅ January 14, 2008 ⋅

Financial Times: Kazakhstan reaches Kashagan accord with consortium

Kazakhstan agreed a deal with an Eni-led consortium on Sunday night to develop the Kashagan oilfield. The consortium – which includes ExxonMobil of the US, Royal Dutch Shell and Total of France – agreed to pay Kazakhstan $2.5bn-$4.5bn in compensation for the project’s late start…

Wall Street Journal: Kashagan dispute ends as state doubles stake

A long-running dispute over one of the world’s biggest oil-development projects was finally resolved last night with an agreement to let the Kazakhstan state oil and gas company double its stake in the multibillion-dollar venture…

Reuters: Eni Group cedes greater stake to Kazakhs in Kashagan

Eni SpA and its partners in the Kashagan oil development agreed to cede a greater stake to Kazakhstan’s state-run KazMunaiGaz National Co…

Bloomberg: Eni-led Kashagan group meets Kazakh Premier in Astana

Eni SpA and partners met with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov in talks ahead of a Jan. 15 deadline to resolve a dispute over the Kashagan oil field, the world’s largest crude discovery in three decades…

Neweurasia.net: 48 hours to go

The Russian news agency Interfax featured a very explosive exclusive in its news wires last Friday: “Kazakh govt ready to cancel Kashagan deal with Eni consortium” read the headline…

New York Times: Report stirs concern Kazakh oil deal may be scuttled

Shares in the Italian oil company Eni dipped on Friday after a Russian news agency reported that the government of Kazakhstan was preparing to cancel a contract with a consortium led by Eni that is developing the Kashagan field, one of the world’s largest oil projects…

International Herald Tribune: Kazakhstan calls off search for miners missing in coal mine blast; death toll at 30

Rescuers called off the search for dozens of miners missing two days after a deadly coal mine explosion in central Kazakhstan, saying Sunday there was no chance of finding them alive. Authorities put the death toll at 30…

AFP: ArcelorMittal CEO ’summoned’ to Kazakhstan after deadly mine blast

The CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is to visit Kazakhstan on Monday following a blast that killed at least seven people at one of his Kazakh mines, officials said…

Reuters: Kazakh coal mine blast kills at least seven

An explosion killed at least seven coal miners on Friday and left another 23 missing in a Kazakh mine owned by the world’s largest steel maker, Arcelor Mittal…

New Europe: KazMunaiGaz eyes Russian oil fields

Kazakhstan, whose oil reserves have earned it recognition worldwide, is planning to buy oil fields in neighbouring Russia. According to specialists, this is a necessary measure for the Kazakh government to control the prices of oil products…

Reuters: Petrolinvest pays $512 mln in Kazakh expansion

Polish oil company Petrolinvest signed preliminary all-share deals worth $512 million to expand its presence in the potentially lucrative Kazakhstan oil market, sending shares up as much as 7 percent on Friday…

Kazinform: Kazakh PM met with US Senator R. Lugar

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov has met today with US Senator Richard Lugar at Ukimet Uiy (House of Government), Kazinform has learnt from PM’s press service…

Kazinform: Chevron officials, Kazakh PM had a talk

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov met with officials of Chevron Eurasia Corporation led by Guy Hollingsworth at Ukimet Uiy (House of Government) today, Kazinform has learnt from PM’s press service…

Today’s Zaman: Questions about the Nabucco pipeline

The title was dramatic: Nabucco. This operatic title was given to a pipeline that was planned to be a route from Azerbaijan to Europe stretching some 3,300 kilometers, reducing the energy dependency of the continent on Russia…

Eurasia Daily Monitor: The rebirth of pan-Turkism

As the USSR recedes further into history, the post-Soviet Turkic nations of the Caucasus and Central Asia are rediscovering their linguistic and cultural affinities with Turkey, and activists are promoting closer cultural, economic, and political ties…

finchannel.com: JSC “Bank TuranAlem” attracts DEG loan for 82 million USD

JSC “Bank TuranAlem” has entered into loan agreement with international organization DEG (Deutsche Investitions Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft MBH, Germany) to attract loan for 82 million dollars USA…