The British oil company filed a lawsuit against Kazakhstan

The British oil company Victoria Oil & Gas has filed a lawsuit against Kazakhstan to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). This is reported by the industry telegram channel Energy monitor.

According to the resource, in April 2021, the company already announced its intention to file a lawsuit against Kazakhstan for hundreds of millions of dollars for the termination of the contract for oil exploration and production at the Kemerkol field in Atyrau region.

According to the director of the Energy Monitor Public Foundation, Nurlan Zhumagulov, the nature of this lawsuit has more political motives.

"The deposit obviously does not pull hundreds of millions of dollars, unlike the case by the way (Borankol and Tolkyn deposits). Most likely, the lawsuit has more of a political context than an economic one," he said.

Zhumagulov recalled that in 2005 Victoria Oil & Gas acquired a 100% stake in the Kemercol deposit from Saga Creek Gold Ltd for $8.5 million. The company managed to drill several wells and potentially estimated geological oil reserves at 15 million tons. However, in 2008, the subsoil use contract was terminated. The reasons for the termination were not reported.