Kazakhstan hits back at Exxon over Kashagan statements

energy

Kazakhstan hits back at Exxon over Kashagan statements

By SRI ⋅ July 7, 2008 ⋅

The Kazakh government renounced the claims of Exxon Mobil’s CEO that it was intentionally delaying the development of the Kashagan oilfield, Kazakhstan’s ministry of energy and mineral resources said on Friday according to Reuters.

“A chief executive of one of the major oil companies, a Kashagan consortium member, has recently made statements seeking to shift blame to the government for delays,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to this week’s comments in Madrid by Rex Tillerson, the CEO of U.S. oil major Exxon.

“The government has acted responsibly to protect the interests of Kazakhstan in the face of the consortium’s inability to bring the field into production on schedule,” the statement said.

Last week, Tillerson accused Kazakhstan’s government of holding up the development of Kashagan by having disputes with the companies working on the project. “It’s time for government of Kazakhstan to stop delaying the project,” Tillerson said at a news conference during the World Petroleum Congress.