Pension fund money may be spent on ConocoPhillips stake in Kashagan: MP

Majilis deputy Tursunbek Omurzakov believes that Kazakhstan government should purchase the share of ConocoPhillips in Kashagan project, Tengrinews.kz reports.

“I am asking the government to take decisive measures to purchase the share in Kashagan project from ConocoPhillips. National resources of the country should be owned by Kazakhstan people and not foreign investors,” Omurzakov said at the plenary Majilis meeting having made a deputy request to Kazakhstan Prime-Minister Serik Akhmetov.

According to the member of the parliament, 21 billion tenge ($140 million) that are expected to the transferred to the future common pension fund from private pension funds could be spent for development of the field. “The plan is that the pension money will also be invested in foreign financial tools, while a certain part of this money could be invested in Kashagan. In this case the savings will work for the benefit of the country’s economy and will generate the required amounts of profit,” he stressed.

Geological oil reserves of Kashagan are estimated at 4.8 billion tons, Omurzakov said. “Kazakhstan’s share in Kashagan is 16.9 percent. Last year ConocoPhillips announced its intention to sell its share in Kashagan (8.4 percent) which is estimated at approximately 8-10 billion tenge ($53-67 million). All the participants of the project, including KazMunaiGas, have the priority right to purchase this stake and this right was in effect until May 25, 2013,” the deputy reminded.

The member of the Majilis (lower chamber of the parliament) believes that procurement of the stake will allow to increase Kazakhstan’s participation in Kashagan to 25 percent.

Earlier Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev announced that the shareholders of the project of development of Kazakhstan field Kashagan are not planning to buy the stake of ConocoPhillips.

“We have asked every shareholder whether they are interested in this stake. They all have the preemption right. As we understand, they have all refused, at least verbally, from the right to buy this stake,” Mynbayev said back then.