Kazakhstan not negotiating expansion of Kashagan - country's Energy Ministry

ASTANA. Nov 12 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan is not currently negotiating to expand the Kashagan project, Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said.

"No, there are no negotiations yet. I cannot confirm," Akkenzhenov told reporters in Moscow in response to whether negotiations were underway on expanding the project.

Bloomberg, citing sources, earlier reported that Kazakhstan was in talks with Exxon Mobil Corp. to develop the undeveloped portion of Kashagan.

Kashagan is considered one of the largest oilfields in the world discovered in recent decades. Its recoverable reserves range from 9 billion to 13 billion barrels of oil. Commercial production at Kashagan began in the autumn of 2016.

The shareholders of the project operator, the NCOC consortium, are KMG Kashagan B.V. (16.877%), Shell (SPB: RDS.A) Kazakhstan Development B.V. (16.807%), Total EP Kazakhstan (16.807%), AgipCaspian Sea B.V. (16.807%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. (16.807%), CNPC Kazakhstan B.V. (8.333%), and Inpex NorthCaspian Sea Ltd. (7.563%).