Kazakh and Russian companies to set up consortium

Apr 23, 2003 02:00 AM

KazMunaiGaz, Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company, will set up a consortium together with Russia's LUKoil to develop the Khvalynsk oil-and-gas field in the Caspian Sea.
KazMunaiGaz' First Vice President Timur Kulibayev and LUKoil's First Vice President Ravil Maganov signed an agreement on the joint development of Khvalynsk oil and gas resources, KazMunaiGaz said.

The two companies will have equal shares in the consortium and equally divide all rights and duties. A LUKoil-affiliated structure will be the operator of the project. KazMunayGaz representatives will work with the operator.
"Preference will be given to Russian and Kazakh suppliers of materials, goods and services to develop Khvalynsk," the company said.

The agreement has provided a basis for concluding a contract on joint activities and conducting a feasibility study for the project. Moreover, the companies will put Khvalynsk on the list of deposits developed under a production sharing agreement.
The document is consistent with the protocol to a bilateral agreement on dividing the northern Caspian seabed to exercise the sovereign right for resource development of 13 May 2002.

Source: BBC Monitoring International Reports