Kazakhstan hopes to complete talks with international oil firms over the development of the massive Kashagan oil project by the end of June, Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said Monday, according to the Interfax news agency.
"The process is ongoing. We hope to finish by June 30," he told reporters in the capital Astana, adding the two sides are currently discussing Kazakhstan 's objections to a draft budget submitted recently by the foreign consortium.
Kazakhstan has fallen out with the Eni SpA (E)-led consortium on several occasions in the past, challenging budget overruns and delays to the original 2005 start-up date.
Eni said in January it now expects output to begin in 2011. But the consortium - which also includes France's Total SA (TOT), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) - has now proposed delaying production to 2012-2013.
Other partners include ConocoPhillips (COP) and Japan's Inpex Holdings Inc. (1605.TO) and Kazakh state oil firm KazMunaiGas, which raised its stake following a recent dispute.
Kashagan is located in the Caspian Sea and holds as much as 13 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves, putting it among the biggest finds of the last 30 years.