Kazakh state could seize oil fields from investors

The Kazakh state could seize oil fields and mineral deposits from private investors, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said Thursday, following a series of high-profile business disputes involving top foreign energy majors.

“If contractual obligations for the development mineral resource deposits are not respected, the contracts will be cancelled and (the deposits) will be returned to the state,” Masimov told a government meeting in the capital Astana.



Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia located between China and Russia, is rich in natural resources including crude oil, gold and uranium. Western investors have flocked to the country since independence in 1991.

But the climate for foreign investors has worsened in recent months and the authorities have accused Western oil majors such as ENI and Chevron of failing to respect contracts for some of the biggest new oil fields in the world.