Chinese state oil firm CNPC will buy a stake in Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil project, through back-to-back deals with Kazmunaigaz through which ConocoPhillips will exit, the Kazakh state oil firm said.
Lyazzat Kiinov, chief executive of Kazmunaigaz, confirmed the deal structure on the fringes of a summit of gas exporting nations in Moscow, telling Reuters that CNPC would pay more than US$5 billion for the stake.
Conoco, which is in the process of whittling down its worldwide portfolio, has an 8.4 per cent stake in the Kashagan project operator. Kiinov said he hoped the transaction would be completed quickly.
Sources familiar with the deal told Reuters last Friday CNPC was set to win Conoco’s stake in the world’s largest oil find in five decades, as Kazakhstan diverts more oil eastward towards energy-hungry China and away from saturated European markets.
They evaluated that CNPC would pay around US$5.3-5.4 billion for the stake in the giant offshore field in the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan, home to 3 per cent of the world’s recoverable oil reserves, has moved in recent years to exert greater management control and secure bigger revenues from foreign-owned oil and gas projects.
