Oil Majors Lose Another Appeal of $5 Billion Kazakh Sulfur Fine
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Article content(Bloomberg) — The oil majors that operate Kazakhstan’s second-largest field lost another court appeal over an environmental fine of about $5 billion, further narrowing their options to fight the penalty.Sign In or Create an AccountEmail AddressContinueor View more offersArticle contentIn a ruling on April 8, an Astana-based court upheld an earlier decision to impose a fine of 2.356 trillion tenge on the Kashagan oil venture for storing excessive amounts of sulfur at the field, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources said in emailed reply to questions from Bloomberg. Article contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Article contentArticle contentKashagan’s operator, the North Caspian Operating Co. said in an emailed statement that it disagrees with the court’s ruling and reiterated that its sulfur-management operations were in full compliance with the law. The company and its shareholders will “pursue all available avenues of recourse against this decision to defend their rights.”Article contentTop StoriesGet the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.There was an error, please provide a valid email address.Sign UpBy signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.Thanks for signing up!A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.Article contentThe sulfur fine is connected to a wider $166 billion international arbitration centered around Kashagan, the country’s second-largest oil field. Kazakh authorities have being pushing for higher revenue from the nation’s resources and have sued the venture partners in international arbitration. Most of that amount relates to claims for lost revenue, but also includes environmental violations and contracts that the state alleges were tainted by corruption.Article contentKazakhstan is Central Asia’s biggest oil producer and the second-largest supplier to Europe. The nation’s importance increased as the continent moved away from Russian energy supplies following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and more recently by disruption to Persian Gulf supplies caused by the Iran-US conflict.Article contentArticle contentThe Kashagan venture still has the option of filing a cassation appeal against the decision, which has now entered into legal force, said people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.Article contentNCOC is owned by Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company KazMunayGas alongside Eni SpA, Shell Plc, TotalEnergies SE, Exxon Mobil Corp., Inpex Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. Article contentThe companies are challenging the fine in other ways. In February, the oil majors filed for international arbitration. They are also appealing the sulfur penalty to the Committee for Environmental Regulation and Control, which has yet to make a decision, the Ministry of Ecology said. Article contentKazMunayGas declined to comment. Eni didn’t respond to a request for comment. Shell, TotalEnergies and Exxon referred questions to NCOC. CNPC did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Inpex declined to comment. Article content—With assistance from Kevin Crowley, Francois de Beaupuy, Mitchell Ferman, Kathy Chen, Alberto Brambilla and Shoko Oda.Article contentTrending Posthaste: What Mark Carney's gas tax cut could mean for the Bank of Canada News Canadian quantum company Xanadu soars to $16 billion valuation after Nvidia release Innovation A rise in mortgage rates may ‘pull the rug' out from under the spring housing market, says CREA Mortgages How much money should Gerry, in his 70s, have in equities, bonds and cash?
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Personal Finance Brace for gas price 'shock' in inflation numbers out Monday, say economists Economy