"We have contacted PetroKazakhstan and proposed meeting and holding talks to settle our disputed questions," LUKoil Vice President Andrei Kuzyayev told a news conference in Astana Thursday.
Shareholders of PetroKazakhstan, whose assets are all in Kazakhstan, voted Tuesday to sell the company to the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for $4.2 billion. In accordance with Canadian legislation, the deal must be approved in court. However, the court delayed delivering a judgment for eight days to give the parties the opportunity to settle their dispute over the ownership of Turgai Petroleum, operating in the northern sector of the Kumkol oil field in south-western Kazakhstan, where LUKoil and PetroKazakhstan each hold a 50% stake.
"Under the shareholders' agreement between LUKoil and PetroKazakhstan, LUKoil has the priority in buying 50% of Turgai Petroleum in the event of a change in PetroKazakhstan ownership," Kuzyayev said.
