Centre of dispute: Kashagan
Eni to stay at Kashagan helm
Kazakh Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Yergozhin has quashed rumours that Eni may be stripped of operatorship of the AgipKCO consortium, which is developing the Kashagan oilfield, as a top official from the Italian producer voiced confidence the dispute over the project's future could be settled swiftly.
Yergozhin told Russia's Interfax news agency that Eni would remain at the consortium's helm, but added: "We demand that they present us with a practical action plan to see how they are going to pursue this project."
An official estimate of Astana's losses in the wake of delays and cost overruns at the Kashagan development should be available on Friday, he said. Kazakhstan believes the amount could to run into "dozens of billions of dollars".
Eni is widely expected to offer Astana more favourable terms in its production sharing agreement for the giant oilfield.
Speaking after a meeting with Kazakh officials earlier today, Stefano Cao, head of Eni's exploration and production division, said: "All matters will be addressed in accordance with existing production sharing agreement terms."
He added the talks had been constructive.
However, sources close to the talks told Interfax that Kazakh negotiators asked the ConocoPhillips's representative to leave the discussions.
"We believe that ConocoPhillips does not view Kashagan as an important asset in that it sent a representative lower in rank than the other contractor organisations to the negotiations," a Thomson Financial report quoted the source as saying.
The Central Asian state suspended work at the Kashagan field on 27 August in a row over delays in starting oil production and cost overruns by AgipKCO.
Kazakhstan, which has threatened to prolong its suspension beyond the three months already announced, has accused the consortium of breaking environment regulations at Kashagan, which holds an estimated 38 billion barrels of oil-in-place.
The AgipKCO group also includes Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, ConocoPhillips and Japan's Inpex Holdings.