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Oil firms in Kazakhstan
哈萨克斯坦的石油企业
Cash all gone
钱全没了
One of the world's biggest oil projects has become a fiasco
世界上最大的石油项目之一惨败
WHEN it was discovered in 2000, the Kashagan oilfield in Kazakhstan's waters in the northern Caspian Sea was the world's biggest oil find in three decades. By now it was supposed to be pumping out 1.2m barrels a day (mbd), enough to meet Spain's entire consumption. But the project, whose name sounds unfortunately like “cash all gone”, went spectacularly awry. A year ago, when the first trickle of crude briefly flowed, it was already eight years behind schedule. Having cost 43 billion, it was 30 billion over budget. And production lasted only a few weeks before leaks of poisonous gas forced its suspension. Earlier this month a government minister admitted it would not restart until at least 2016.
当位于里海北部哈萨克斯坦水域的卡沙干油田在2000年被发现时，它成为了世界上三十年来发现的最大的油田。到目前它每天应该能产出120万桶,足以满足西班牙的整体消费量。但这个项目的名字听起来很不幸，就像“钱全没了”一样,出现重大故障了。一年前,当它出油时,已经落后于预定计划八年了。耗资430亿美元,超过了预算300亿美元。生产只持续了几个星期，它就因有毒气体泄漏被迫中止。本月早些时候,一位政府部长承认至少到2016年后油田才会重启。
Undeterred by the Kashagan fiasco, this week the government said it would approve a plan to expand the onshore Tengiz oilfield, another huge budget-buster. Tengiz was first expected to cost 23 billion but the government said this week that the bill had risen to 40 billion.
并未被卡沙干的惨败而有所动摇,本周政府表示,它将批准一项计划,扩大陆上田吉兹油田,这是另一个巨大的花钱能手。田吉兹油田初始预估会花费230亿美元,但政府本周表示,该账单已升至400亿美元。
Each of the two oilfields is owned by a different consortium of foreign firms and the state oil company, KazMunaiGaz. In Kashagan's case they include Exxon, Shell, Total and ENI. In part the project's setbacks are due to unexpected technical problems. Corrosive and poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas, pumped up from the seabed along with the oil, has eaten through pipes bringing it onshore. It may cost another 5 billion to fix the problem. But insiders say privately that with so many companies involved, the project has lacked clear leadership and suffered from government meddling.'
两个油田分别由不同的外国公司所组成的财团以及国有石油公司—哈萨克国家石油天然气公司控制,。卡沙干油田涉及到埃克森美孚、壳牌、道达尔和埃尼。部分项目的挫折是由意想不到的技术问题造成的。腐蚀性和有毒的硫化氢气体,随着石油从海床被抽上来时,会腐蚀输送石油上岸的管道。这可能花费50亿美元来解决这个问题。但业内人士私下表示,有这么多公司参与其中,该项目一直缺乏明确的领导并且受到政府干预。
Investors of all kinds worry about “the declining predictability of Kazakhstan's regulatory and legal environment”, says Mariyam Zhumadil of Halyk Finance, an investment bank in the commercial capital, Almaty. In 2010 the government filed a 1.2 billion tax claim against the consortium that operates another field, Karachaganak, while making noises about breaches of environmental rules, not long after expressing an interest in buying a stake in the field. Later the consortium gave it 10% in return for it agreeing to expand the field.
各类投资者担心“哈萨克斯坦监管和法律环境的可预测性的不断下降”,纳鲁克金融公司的Mariyam Zhumadil这样说道，这家公司是设立在商业中心阿拉木图的一家投资银行。2010年,政府向运作另一个油田项目——Karachaganak的外国财团提出12亿美元的税收索赔,并鼓噪其违反了环保规定,但是不久之后又表达了入股的意愿。后来财团给它以10%的股份来换取政府对其扩大领域的批准。
Likewise, at Kashagan, environmental officials have fined the field's operators 737m for burning off the poisonous gas, which the consortium argues was an emergency measure. Ms Zhumadil reckons the fine is a “tool for future negotiations, perhaps to strengthen the national oil company's presence in the project.” This may not be the best way to encourage foreign firms to pump in the tens of billions of dollars more that are still needed to develop Kazakhstan's oilfields.
同样的，在卡沙干油田，环境官员已经因燃烧有毒气体处罚了该处油田运营商7.37亿美元，但是该财团争辩称燃烧有毒气体是一项紧急处理措施。Zhumadil女士推断，这个罚金是一个“日后谈判的工具，可能会强化国有石油公司在这个项目上的存在感”。这可能不是鼓励外国企业投资仍需要数百亿美元的卡沙干油田的最好办法。译者：朱羿丞
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