Askhat Khasenov, chairman of KazMunayGas, told journalists on Friday that the report of an $80 billion ExxonMobil proposal for West Kashagan is unreliable information: “I read this news item, and we as KazMunayGas do not confirm what was set out in Bloomberg” (Kursiv). He added that the company remains in partnership with Exxon, that all partners are currently occupied with the eastern section of the field, producing about 450,000 barrels a day, and that on future prospects “it is hard to say today.”
The version he was answering, as Kursiv relays it from Bloomberg: a 50/50 joint venture for West Kashagan, about $80 billion of investment, output of up to 600,000 barrels a day, conditional on settling Kazakhstan’s claims of roughly $150 billion against the current consortium, under a production sharing agreement that runs to 2041. We carried the offer report in Friday’s evening edition with its sourcing stated; the Bloomberg origin is now on the record via Kursiv. Exxon has made no comment in any account the desk has read.
“I read this news item, and we as KazMunayGas do not confirm what was set out in Bloomberg.”
At the same briefing Khasenov said the CPC has no alternative “by economics, by volumes, as of today,” while other options are being worked. KazMunayGas plans to lift exports through Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan by about a third this year, to 1.7 million tonnes, against 1.263 million in 2025 and 704,000 tonnes in the first half. He also gave the system’s storage: about 1.426 million cubic metres in the KazTransOil system, some 250,000 tonnes at refineries and 215,000 tonnes at oil preparation facilities.