Talking shop: Eni chief Paolo Scaroni
Eni ready for Kashagan talks
A multinational consortium led by Italy's Eni is preparing to start talks with the Kazakh government on the future development of the giant Kashagan oilfield, Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni said.
Kazakhstan has said it wanted a bigger share of revenues from the world's biggest oilfield discovery in 30 years in compensation for delays in pumping the first oil from the Caspian Sea wells and threatened to strip Eni of its role as project operator.
"We are getting ready for challenging, but serene talks," Scaroni told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Italy.
"Our relations with the Kazakh authorities are and have always been excellent and we do not have particular worries."
Scaroni said the much-awaited talks with the Kazakh government were delayed by parliament elections in the Central Asian state and he would go there before the end of August.
He reiterated that Eni was ready to resolve all problems.
"The Kazakh government intends to renegotiate the contract and this does not surprise us. We think it's normal because the contract was born when oil prices were much lower," Scaroni said.
Kashagan's original start-up has been delayed from an original target of 2005 to the second half of 2010.
The Kazakh government says projected costs over its 40-year life have increased to $136 billion from $57 billion.
Eni has not commented on the lifetime costs but has said that just the first phase costs have doubled to $19 billion.
Scaromi said the consortium -- which also includes ExxonMobil, France's Total Royal Dutch, ConocoPhillips and Japan's Inpex -- has kept the Kazakh oil company KazMunaiGas informed about the project delays and increasing costs.