StatoilHydro bins Kazakh bribe claims

Norway’s StatoilHydro has rejected accusations, made in a US lawsuit, that it had bribed officials in Kazakhstan.

A lawsuit by US oil and gas developer Jack Grynberg, filed in a New York district court this year, alleges StatoilHydro, along with BP and British Gas made bribes in the late 1990s to win oil rights to ventures in which Grynberg had an interest.

"We consider the case completely groundless and strongly reject the accusations," StatoilHydro spokeswoman Kjersti Morstoel told Reuters.

"Mr Grynberg has been involved in a number of lawsuits. This is an attempt to get money and the claims are completely baseless," she said.

Morstoel declined to go into details of the suit.

StatoilHydro has no production assets in Kazakhstan. In 2001 it sold its nearly 5% stake in the Kashagan field and said the venture did not meet its "criteria for maturity and governance".

Grynberg has in past years filed numerous lawsuits against oil and gas companies.