Astana — Kazakhstan’s government is not holding talks with Russian oil major Lukoil about buying the company’s Kazakh assets, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said on Monday.
Earlier, Russian state media had cited the head of Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company KazMunayGas as saying the company was in talks about Lukoil’s assets in Kazakhstan.
The Russian oil group holds stakes in Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak and Tengiz oilfields, as well as in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which carries the bulk of Kazakhstan’s oil to the Russian port of Novorossiysk for export.
“The government is not negotiating the purchase of Lukoil’s assets,” Akkenzhenov told reporters.
Lukoil was sanctioned by the U.S. last month in what Washington said was a response to slow progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The move has forced the oil major to dispose of its overseas assets.
“Regarding negotiations regarding Lukoil’s assets, the issue has been postponed until mid-December, if I’m not mistaken,” Akkenzhenov said. Kazakh energy projects in which Lukoil holds stakes continued to operate as normal, he added.
Kazakhstan, a major energy producer, accounts for around 2% of daily global oil supply.
Reporting by Tamara Vaal; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Jan Harvey – Reuters
