Kazakhstan maps demands for Eni oil talks next week
ASTANA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan has mapped out a set of demands for an Eni-led (ENI.MI) consortium developing the huge Kashagan oilfield and will start talks on them next week, its energy minister said on Tuesday. Speaking after Monday's talks between Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Sauat Mynbayev said negotiations on those demands would start on Oct. 15.
"Of course we have (formulated demands). It's a platform for discussion. It will be discussed very actively during next week, starting Monday," the minister told reporters.
"The main demand is to restore the balance of economic interests," he said, without giving more specifics.
Kazakhstan said previously it wants to see state oil company KazMunaiGas [KMG.UL] become co-operator of the Kashagan oilfield, the biggest oil find in three decades. It has also demanded billions of dollars in compensation for production delays at the field, where costs have also risen sharply.
Eni's Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni, in Kazakhstan on Monday as part of Prodi's delegation, held out the possibility of raising KasMunaiGas's 8.3 percent stake in the Kashagan project.
Other members of the Kashagan consortium -- at the heart of Kazakhstan's ambitious oil production plans -- are Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Total (TOTF.PA), ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and Japan's Inpex (1605.T).
