The companies operating two major oil fields in Kazakhstan are being taken to arbitration by the nation’s government, with billions of dollars of revenue at stake amid allegations of unapproved spending, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports.
The government is claiming that partners in the projects should not deduct costs amounting to $13 billion for Kashagan and $3.5 billion for Karachaganak, the people said, asking not to be named because the information is private. If the state is successful, it could receive a greater share of revenue from the fields, under the terms of production-sharing agreements.