Kazakh PM Calls for Tighter Control of Oil

Kazakhstan’s new prime minister criticized foreign oil companies Thursday and ordered the government to tighten control over their activities in the energy-rich Central Asian nation, the government said.

Karim Masimov, who assumed office last week, accused unspecified foreign oil companies of “unsatisfactory” implementation of contracts, citing “extensions of the prospecting period, delays with the start of commercial extraction and
raising costs,” according to the government press office.

Masimov told a meeting at the Energy Ministry that such practices were damaging Kazakhstan’s economy.

Last year, Kazakhstan downgraded its long-term oil output forecast from 3 million to 2.6 million barrels a day by 2015 because of delays with development of Caspian Sea fields.

AFX News Limited