​Kazakhstan Says Corruption Behind $10.7 Billion in Kashagan Contracts Аналитический интернет журнал Власть

Kazakhstan’s government has accused a major consortium of international oil companies of corruptly issuing $10.7 billion worth of contracts relating to the Kashagan oil field, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported on August 14, citing multiple anonymous sources.

According to ICIJ, Kazakhstan alleges that the North Caspian Operating Consortium (NCOC) awarded approximately 12 contracts compromised by bribery, self-dealing, or artificially inflated costs when employing international construction companies to build the Kashagan field in the 2000s.

The claims relate to a wider $160 billion international arbitration hearing centering on allegations of lost profits made by the government against the NCOC relating to their operation of Kashagan. The case, which began in 2023, is currently being heard behind closed doors at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and is expected to continue until at least 2028.

Kazakhstan’s government is arguing that the NCOC’s corruptly awarded contracts contributed to significant production delays taking place at the Kashagan field, preventing a lucrative profit-sharing agreement (PSA) from kicking in, and depriving the Kazakh state of valuable revenues, ICIJ reported.

Kashagan, one of the largest oil fields in the world, is located in the Caspian Sea off the northwest coast of Kazakhstan. The NCOC, which operates the field, consists of Shell, ExxonMobil, the China National Petroleum Company, Japan’s Inpex, Italy’s Eni, and France’s TotalEnergies, as well as Kazmunaigas, Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company.

Kashagan’s development is thought to be governed by a confidential production-sharing agreement that gives consortium companies the right to recover their construction expenses via oil sales before the PSA enters force.

Last year, ICIJ reported that Kazakhstan’s government had alleged in the arbitration hearing that they were only receiving 2% of oil revenues from Kashagan, with the other 98% of revenues going to NCOC consortium members.

The NCOC has consistently rejected Kazakhstan’s claims of wrongdoing, and told ICIJ that its consortium members believe “they have acted in accordance with the relevant contracts, [Kazakhstani] laws and applicable standards and best practices”.

Neither Kazakhstan’s ministry of energy, nor the government body tasked with managing the country’s mineral rights, PSA, responded to ICIJ requests for comment.

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