The London court partially satisfied Kazakhstan's claims, which sought compensation of over $6 billion. The final amount has not yet been specified, but lawyers suggest it could range from $2 to $4 billion.
The court supported the arguments of the Kazakh government, which claimed that the Karachaganak operators improperly reimbursed costs not agreed upon under the production sharing agreement (PSA). It is expected that the court's decision will change the oil distribution scheme under this agreement, although the defendants have the right to contest it.
The Karachaganak field, located in Western Kazakhstan, covers more than 280 square kilometers and is considered one of the largest in the world. Development is carried out by an international consortium under an agreement signed with Kazakhstan on November 18, 1997. The project operators, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, each hold equal shares of 29.25%. Chevron (18%) and LUKOIL (13.5%) are also involved in the project, while the national company KazMunayGas holds a 10% stake.
Legal disputes with the operators began in 2023 with an initial claim amount of $3.5 billion, which later increased due to allegations of inflated expenses and possible corruption. In 2024, international companies proposed a compromise in the form of constructing a gas processing plant for domestic market needs, but this option also led to conflicts. Currently, most of the extracted gas is reinjected into the reservoir, while the remaining portion is sent to Russia for processing at the Orenburg gas processing plant, as there are no processing facilities at the field.
The idea of building a gas processing plant at Karachaganak has been discussed since the early 2000s. Negotiations were held with the field operators; however, last summer, the Kazakh authorities rejected a proposal from Eni and Shell, which demanded an additional payment of $1 billion on top of 100% coverage of project costs, which was deemed unacceptable.
