For months, the people of Kazakhstan have been watching with mounting expectation developments in the east Kashagan oilFIeld in the Kazakh section of the Caspian Sea. Oil Finds in the past year in parts of the Caspian controlled by Russia and Azerbaijan have raised hopes of a big Weld on the other side of the Caspian in Kazakhstan. The government says at least one billion tonnes of oil, a sizeable deposit, has been found. But another report, attributed to US government sources, suggests reserves of as much as 6.8 billion tonnes. If this turns out to be true, it would be the biggest oil Find for 20 years.
| Nazarbayev: wants to match Saudi production | ||||||
Now Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is talking of lifting as much oil as Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, by 2015. Before the Rolls-Royce dealerships start springing up, the big question on everyone's mind is timing.