Attention: Eni boss Paulo Scaroni
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Clock ticking for Kashagan solution
Eni and its partners have 60 days to reach a negotiated solution for the Kashagan oil field project, Eni's chief executive said, after the Kazakh government threatened to revoke its licence over environmental issues.
The Caspian Sea site, the biggest oil find in decades, has been beset by delays and cost overruns that have irked the Kazakhstan government.
Earlier this week, Kazakhstan upped the stakes with allegations reminiscent of Moscow's row with Shell, which ended with the multi-national oil company losing control of the giant Sakhalin 2 oil project to Russia's Gazprom.
"Yesterday we received a letter to start a friendly procedure on the contract," Italian energy group Eni's chief executive Paolo Scaroni said.
"A group of people from our consortium, not including me, will start the talks on Monday. There are 60 days to find an amicable agreement," Scaroni said.
He did not say what would happen if the parties failed to find a compromise. The Kazakh government declined to comment.
Scaroni said he would join the talks after 4 September, when a new Kazakh government is expected to be in place after a recent election in which Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's party won a crushing victory, Reuters reported.