Kazakhstan Sweep 101115
- Delegations from 61 countries have confirmed their participation in an Organization for Security and Co-operation summit in Astana on December 1-2, Kazakh Foreign Ministry Special Ambassador Serzhan Abdykarimov told journalists on November 13th, Interfax Kazakhstan reported the following day.
- Kazakhstan and China have agreed to invest $3 million each in a hydropower project on the JorgosRiver in the Almaty region bordering China following the signing of an agreement by Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Akylbek Kurishbayev and Chinese Vice-Minister of Water Resources Jiao Yong on November 13th in Karaganda, Interfax Kazakhstan reported on November 15th.
- The Kazakh government plans to start repatriating Kazakh scientists and researchers who are working abroad, according to Kazakh Education and Science Minister Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov speaking in the Senate on November 12th, Radio Free Europe reported the same day.
- Kazakhstan and the USA signed an agreement for air transportation of cargoes to Afghanistan through the territory of Kazakhstan, the US State Department said following the November 12th signing by Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Andrew Sapiro and the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the USA, Erlan Idrisov, Kazakhstan Today reported on November 15th.
- BMB Munai, an oil and gas company, has reported an increase in production at the Kariman-1 well in Kazakhstan, which has produced at the stable rate of 925bpd during the past 15 days, up from 52 bpd prior to the commencement of additional drilling, Energy Business Review reported on November 15th.
- Kazakhstan’s National Bank has declared that the next wave of billion dollar emerging market initial public offerings are likely to go to Hong Kong, while loans for major infrastructure investment will come from mainland Chinese banks, according to bank head Grigori Marchenko who said over-relying on London previously was a mistake, The Telegraph reported on November 15th.
1) Over 60 countries to take part in OSCE summit in Astana
Astana. November 14. Interfax-Kazakhstan - Delegations from 61 countries have confirmed their participation in an Organization for Security and Co-operation summit in Astana on December 1-2.
"As of November 12, delegations from 61 countries, including 55 OSCE member states, confirmed their participation in the summit. Delegations from 29 countries will be led by their presidents," Kazakh Foreign Ministry Special Ambassador Serzhan Abdykarimov, the summit's executive secretary, told journalists in Astana on Saturday.
Eleven prime ministers, five deputy prime ministers, and 11 ministers have also confirmed their intention to participate.
Asked whether U.S. President Barack Obama will take part in the summit, Abdykarimov said the U.S. has not yet decided who will lead its delegation.
"Some countries have not yet decided [on the composition of their delegations], and everything may be decided upon at the last moment. So, there is still some time left," Abdykarimov said.
2) Kazakhstan and China to build hydropower dam on the Horos river before 2014
Karaganda. November 15. Interfax-Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan and China have agreed to join forces in a hydropower project on the JorgosRiver in the Almaty region bordering China.
The Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Akylbek Kurishbayev and Chinese Vice-Minister Of Water Resources Jiao Yong signed the corresponding agreement last Saturday night in Karaganda.
"The agreement was signed between the Governments of Kazakhstan and China. A preliminary agreement on the construction of a hydroelectric facility on the Horos River was reached two years ago, according to which the Kazakh side ensured the development of design estimates, and submitted the documents to Chinese partners this summer," Vice Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Marat Orazay told Interfax-Kazakhstan.
According to Orazay, construction is scheduled to begin in January 2011 and commissioning is slated for the end of 2013.
Kazakhstan and China each will invest $3 million in the project.
Construction of the waterworks facility is designed to distribute water from the transborder river equally between the neighboring countries.
3) Kazakh Government Wants Scientists Abroad To Return Home
ASTANA -- The Kazakh government plans to start repatriating Kazakh scientists and researchers who are working abroad, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Kazakh Education and Science Minister Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov said in the Senate on November 12 that there are currently 125 talented Kazakh scientists and researchers on the list of those whom the government wants to return to Kazakhstan.
"We have drafted a document addressed to the government that proposes ways to bring home Kazakh scientists who left the country at various times and for various reasons," he said.
Zhumagulov said that Russia and China both have similar programs to bring back their expatriates.
Hundreds of thousands of Kazakh citizens left Kazakhstan in the 1990s as a result of the deep economic crisis caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
4) Kazakhstan, USA signed additional agreement for air transportation
Almaty. November 15. Kazakhstan Today - Kazakhstan and the USA signed the additional agreement for air transportation of cargoes to Afghanistan through the territory of Kazakhstan, the US State Department informed.
The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Andrew Sapiro and the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the USA, Erlan Idrisov, signed on November 12, 2010, the agreement, which will allow the United States to transport personnel and equipment through the air space of Kazakhstan to support the American and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Signing of this agreement is the result of the arrangements between the Presidents of Kazakhstan and the USA, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Barack Obama, during their meeting on April 11, 2010 in Washington.
"It will allow the USA and partners of the International Security Assistance Force to intensify transport routes and to reduce the time necessary for transportation of personnel and equipment to support the coalition forces, the government, and the people of Afghanistan."
5) BMB Munai reports production increase at Kariman-1 well, Kazakhstan
BMB Munai, an oil and gas company, has reported an increase in production at the Kariman-1 well in Kazakhstan, which has produced at the stable rate of 925bpd during the past 15 days.
The Kariman-1 well was originally drilled in 1967 targeting Jurassic formations at a depth of 3,069m and, in 2006, BMB Munai's subsidiary deepened the well to 3,361m, penetrating upper Triassic formation and 7m of the middle Triassic formation.
Once middle Triassic formation was pierced, abnormally high pressure and difficult well construction design rendered it impossible for BMB Munai to continue further drilling, the company said.
The company perforated the upper Triassic pay zone and realized stable production of approximately 52bpd prior to commencement of sidetrack drilling.
In August 2010, the company started a sidetrack well, targeting middle Triassic layers.
The sidetrack well was drilled to a depth of 3,521m and the company experienced significant oil shows and high pressure during drilling which allowed penetration of only 160m of middle Triassic formations.
The current production rate of 925bpd is quoted for the choke of 14mm, set at the wellhead.
BMB Munai is engaged in the exploration and test production of crude oil and natural gas in western Kazakhstan.
6) Kazakhstan shuns London for Hong Kong
The head of its National Bank has declared that the next wave of billion dollar emerging market initial public offerings are likely to go to Hong Kong, while loans for major infrastructure investment will come from mainland Chinese banks.
“Over-relying on London was a mistake,” said Grigori Marchenko, the head of Kazakhstan’s National Bank in an interview in his office in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s commercial capital. “London was extremely important because that was where the money was. Increasingly, the money is shifting eastwards.”
Ten Kazakh companies listed in London between October 2005 and December 2007, ranking the oil and mineral-rich country second only to Russia in the volume of equity its companies raised on the London market.