UPDATE 1-Kazakhstan confident in oil sector despite crisis

(Adds reaction and quotes from companies)

By Olzhas Auyezov and Amie Ferris-Rotman

ALMATY Oct 7 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's oil sector is facing limited access to borrowing due to a global credit crisis but the overall sentiment is good and foreign interest remains strong, the energy minister said on Tuesday.

The liquidity squeeze has hit Central Asia's biggest oil producer hard since last year, raising concerns about banks' ability to refinance debt and putting many projects on hold, particularly in the once-booming construction sector.

"The crisis is of course affecting the oil and gas sector here. Borrowing has become very difficult for everyone today," Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev told an oil and gas conference.

"We have financial obligations, our projects also do. But on the other hand there are few other markets right now where you can find such interest."

Regional industry players echoed his comments.

"Everyone needs energy," said Jay Johnson, managing director of U.S. oil major Chevron's (CVX.N) Eurasia unit, rebuffing suggestions of the crisis denting the Kazakh oil sector. "Our main focus is to continue the operations we have."

The credit crunch, largely limited to the banking sector in Kazakhstan, has threatened to spill over into the wider economy, with the government cutting its economic growth forecast this year to just over 5 percent after years of double digit growth.

But, with oil accounting for 60 percent of all exports, the high global prices are seen offsetting the impact of financial volatility on Kazakhstan's highly leveraged economy.

Activity in the oil sector has not stalled and new projects continue to come on stream.

Executives from Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL), which currently has no projects in Kazakhstan, said the firm was actively pursuing the region and hoped to work with Kazakhstan's state-run energy firm KazMunaiGas [KMG.UL].

"We're trying to find good quality projects here," a senior executive said, declining to give his name. "We do need to study our cost to revenue relationship. Costs need to go down due to the drop in the oil price, but it won't stop us looking."

StatoilHydro sold its stake in the Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian Sea in 2001, which is now being developed by Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) and KazMunaiGas.

Earlier this week U.S. major ConocoPhillips (COP.N), the UAE's Mubadala Development Co and Kazakhstan's state energy firm agreed to work together to develop an offshore Kazakh oil block.

"We are attracting a lot of interest in the oil and gas sector and I believe this will last a long time," Mynbayev said. (Writing by Maria Golovnina and Amie Ferris-Rotman, Editing by Peter Blackburn)