Transaction comes as Kazakh state-run company reports worsening financial results
Оригинальный текст опубликован на сайте «Upstream», 23 November 2023 4:42 GMT . Автор: Материал доступен по .
Kazakhstan state-run oil and gas holding KazMunayGaz has completed a deal with TotalEnergies to buy the French company’s stake in the Dunga oil development in the Mangistau region in the Kazakhstan.
KazMunayGaz insisted on the deal this past northern hemisphere summer after using provisions in the country’s law on subsurface use to block TotalEnergies’ earlier agreement with Kazakh privately held investor Oriental Sunrise that had committed to buy the shareholding in Dunga for $330 million.
TotalEnergies, at the time of publication, had yet to respond to Upstream’s request for comment on whether KazMunayGaz’ payment matched Oriental Sunrise’s committed price.
KazMunayGaz in a statement said that “the completion of the transaction once again demonstrates complete mutual understanding between the companies in various areas of cooperation”.
Oman Oil Company and Partex Kazakhstan Corporation each holds 20% of the Dunga venture that is developing the oilfield of the same name under a production sharing agreement with the Kazakh government.
KazMunayGaz’ largest solely operated oil producing asset — Ozenmunaygaz — is also located in the same region of Mangistau.
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In a separate statement on its consolidated financials, KazMunayGaz said that terms of the deal on Dunga were agreed with TotalEnergies in October.
In the statement, the Kazakh company also said that its revenues fell by more than 10% to about 6.1 trillion tenge ($13.2 billion) between January and September this year compared with the same period of 2022.
The company’s net profit fell by a higher margin of 18% to 949 billion tenge for the same period, the statement said.
Free cash generating ability of the Kazakh company declined ever more steeply by 54% to 459 billion tenge as it had to boost investments into an oil pipeline connector to the Russian trunkline network and step up drilling to reverse the decline in oil production at legacy assets.
Meanwhile, in another negative trend, KazMunayGaz said that overall production costs rose by 5% to 865 billion tenge as the result of higher salaries paid to oil workers in Mangistau and other regions, and higher transportation and rental spending.
KazMunayGaz added that besides lower oil prices, its top line was negatively impacted by the reduction in revenues from non-operated assets where the Kazakh company holds minority interests, with the largest drop of $520 million coming from the country’s largest oil producer — the Chevron-led Tengizchevroil venture.
Oil production by Tengizchevroil reportedly declined this year as the operator started commissioning of new facilities at the Tengiz oilfield under a $45 billion expansion project.
Additionally, KazMunayGaz acknowledged a 102 billion tenge one-time negative charge after its partner, Russian oil producer Lukoil, drilled a dry hole on the Zhenis block in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, and a governmental decision to withdraw the company’s licence for two other Caspian blocks, Aktoty and Kayran.
