Legal battle in Kashagan environmental dispute may continue despite court victory - MinisterLegal proceedings against the Kashagan operator may continue despite the appellate court upholding the Department of Ecology of the Atyrau Region's environmental audit results, Kazakhstan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Erlan Nysanbayev, said."We've secured a victory in court, but NCOC retains the right to file a cassation appeal. We anticipate they will do so. Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, the court favored our side at that particular stage," Nysanbayev told Interfax-Kazakhstan at a government event.Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Zhomart Aliyev, noted that the audit covered both land and sea areas, and the environmental dispute was estimated at 2.3 trillion tenge."No penalties were imposed because the environmental audit protocol requires issuing instructions to address violations. Today, we've completed the initial evidence phase in court, resulting in three environmental instructions being validated at the appellate level. However, the consortium still has one pending cassation appeal. We'll await its outcome before considering administrative penalties," Aliyev said.In 2022, the Atyrau Region's Ecology Department conducted an audit at Kashagan, which revealed that NCOC had surpassed sulfur storage limits by over 1.2 million tonnes. The department also noted that NCOC was not fully adhering to the environmental protection action plan: wastewater was discharged into an evaporation pond without proper treatment, and untreated raw gas was flared without environmental permits. These breaches could result in a fine of 2.3 trillion tenge for the company.NCOC contested the audit findings in court. In June 2023, the Astana court partially upheld the consortium's claim, disputing key aspects of the environmental audit. The court sided with NCOC on the sulfur storage issue and found the environmentalists' claim about the absence of additional purification filters unfounded.The Department of Ecology for the Atyrau Region appealed in September 2023 to contest the initial court ruling. In late November 2023, the appeal board of the Astana court opted to reopen the legal inquiry and carry out a second forensic examination in the dispute involving environmentalists and NCOC.During this litigation, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported that NCOC shareholders had warned Kazakhstan of potential international arbitration regarding the dispute. Alikhan Smailov, who was Prime Minister at the time, addressed these rumors, stating that the country was ready to resolve the matter amicably. He mentioned that an agreement had been reached with the consortium to remove sulfur from the deposit area and sell it.NCOC is owned by KMG Kashagan B.V. with 16.877%; Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V., Total EP Kazakhstan, Agip Caspian Sea B.V., and ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. with 16.807% each; CNPC Kazakhstan B.V. with 8.333% and Inpex North Caspian Sea Ltd. with 7.563%.Kashagan is Kazakhstan's first offshore oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea. It is the largest international investment project in the country. Commercial operation at Kashagan began on November 1, 2016. The recoverable oil reserves of the Kashagan field are estimated to range between 9 and 13 billion barrels. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX