KMG and Eni sign agreement on shipyard construction

Chairman of the Board of JSC NC KazMunaiGas Sauat Mynbayev and CEO of the Italian Eni SpA (ENI) Claudio Descalzi signed $288mln contract for construction of shipyard in Kuryk, Mangistau Oblast, kazakh media reports.

The shipyard will be able to maintain as many as 70 ships a year and build new vessels with deadweight capacity of as much as 15,000 metric tons, Astana-based KazMunaiGaz said today in an e-mailed statement, after the partners' feasibility study was approved. The shipyard construction in Kuryk on the Kazakh shore of the Caspian Sea is part of the state's industrial program through 2014, inform.kz reports citing the state oil producer.

Eni will help to arrange financing of the project, said KazMunaiGaz, which is a partner with Eni in the Kashagan oilfield. The company didn't say when construction of the shipyard will start and what share of the venture will belong to the Italian oil producer.

In accordance with the signed agreement a joint project company will be created for the management of the project.