Kazakhstan has seized property and vehicles belonging to the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the consortium developing the Kashagan oil field. The relevant document was posted in the automated information system of the Ministry of Justice's enforcement authorities, according to inbusiness.kz, citing Reuters. More details at infohub.kz.
The published document does not specify which assets or vehicles were seized, but it states that the measure has been enforced since July 21.
NCOC brings together Shell, Eni, TotalEnergies, and Exxon Mobil. The consortium has not yet commented on the situation. Earlier, the Kazakh government ordered the company to pay a 2.3 trillion tenge fine for storing excessive amounts of sulfur.
The NCOC operator has denied the allegations and is challenging the claims in international arbitration. In July, Kazakh authorities stated they would push for payment of the environmental fine, while the consortium argues that the dispute is within the arbitration process.