The Kazakh government announced Wednesday it had at long last struck an agreement to claim a coveted 10% stake in the giant onshore Karachaganak gas-condensate field, following two years of painstaking negotiations (IOD Dec.13’11). The deal, confirmed just two days before Kazakhstan celebrates 20 years of independence from the former Soviet Union, is technically worth $3 billion on a pretax basis to the current partners in the Karachaganak Petroleum Operating Co. (KPO) consortium developing the field, namely joint operators BG Group of the UK and Eni of Italy alongside nonoperating partners Chevron of the US and Russia’s Lukoil — yet the Kazakhs will pay nothing up front.
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