KAZAKHSTAN OPENS UP MORE OIL DEPOSITS ONSHORE.

The government of Kazakhstan and the Indonesia-based Central Asia Petroleum (CAP) signed on January 9 an agreement to prospect and develop 15 oil and gas fields held by the Kazakh company Mangistaumunaigaz. As reported yesterday by Kazakh officials, CAP will hold 60 percent, the state corporation Kazakhoil 30 percent, and the Mangistaumunaigaz work force 10 percent of the shares in the new enterprise. The investment commitment for the 25-year contract period amounts to more than $4 billion, including $2 billion in the first five years.

Situated in Kazakhstan’s Mangistau region, just east of the Caspian Sea, the fields are preliminarily expected to produce 106 million tons of oil and 10.5 billion cubic meters of gas. However, the recoverable reserves of just the two largest fields are estimated at 170 million tons of oil equivalent. It is planned to have the crude oil processed mostly by Kazakhstan’s Pavlodar and Atyrau refineries. (Russian agencies, January 12)

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