Kazakhstan files lawsuit against Kashagan oil field operator

NCOC stores twice as much sulfur as it is allowed / Kursiv.media

Kazakhstan has filed a lawsuit against the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC). The country’s government wants the oil company to pay $5.1 billion in fines for violating environmental legislation, according to Bloomberg, citing the Ministry of Ecology of Kazakhstan.

«The Ministry of Ecology blames NCOC for storage of twice as much sulfur the country’s legislations allow it to store within a production facility,» the news agency reported.

NCOC earlier said that it follows all rules and requirements in Kazakhstan consistently.

The Kashagan oil field is considered one of the largest oil deposits discovered over the past several decades. According to some estimates, the oil field has recoverable reserves of 9 to 13 billion barrels of oil.

NCOC has been producing oil at Kashagan since 2016. The company has several stakeholders, including KMG Kashagan B.V. (16.877%), Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V. (16.807%), Total EP Kazakhstan (16.807%), AgipCaspian Sea B.V. (16.807%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. (16.807%), CNPC Kazakhstan B.V. (8.333%) and Inpex NorthCaspian Sea Ltd. (7.563%).