ConocoPhillips to Sell Stake in Giant Kazakh Oil Field

ConocoPhillips has announced that it will sell its stake in Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field.

Kashagan was declared commercially viable 10 years ago and is the largest oil discovery since Prudhoe Bay in Alaska back in the 1960’s. The field will be developed by the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which is owned by a consortium of oil companies including; KazMunaiGas, Eni , ExxonMobil , Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Inpex, and ConocoPhillips.

Sauat Mynbayev , the Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister, said that ConocoPhillips are looking to sell their stake in the development, and Lyazzat Kiinov, the head of Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGas, has announced that they are considering purchasing the 8.4 percent stake.

The reason for ConocoPhillips’ desire to exit the mammoth oil field and the potential profits that it could bring, is due to the fact that Kazakhstan is looking to increase the revenue that it earns from all foreign oil and gas countries by renegotiating agreements made in the past. The Kazakh government wants to revise the deals that were made in the post-soviet era when they offered very favourable deals just to try and encourage foreign investors.

By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com