Eni CEO, Paolo Scaroni, and KazMunayGas President, Kairgeldy Kabyldin, signed yesterday, in the presence of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursaltan Nazarbayev, and the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, a cooperation agreement on exploration and production activities and strategic industrial facilities in Kazakhstan.

Under the agreement, which follows a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2009, Eni and KazMunayGas (KMG) will jointly study the Isatay and Shagala exploration areas located in the Caspian Sea, the optimization of gas usage in the Republic of Kazakhstan, and a number of industrial initiatives including a gas sweetening plant, a gas turbine power plant, a drydock shipyard and the upgrading of the Pavlodar refinery, in which KMG holds a majority interest.

Final investment decisions on all these projects are expected by 2 years after the completion of the detailed technical and commercial studies.

Eni is expected to further strengthen its presence in the Republic of Kazakhstan, where it is co-operator in the Karachaganak field and equity partner in the Kashagan field. Within this project, Eni is carrying out the execution of the first phase of development.

Tags: Eni Norge AS