AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan hopes to settle a dispute with global energy companies developing the Karachaganak gas condensate field in the coming weeks, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told reporters on Monday, Reuters reported.

“I hope that before the end of this year we and the (Karachaganak) shareholders... will invite you to a table where we will sign something,” Bozumbayev said, adding that progress had been made in the talks “in Kazakhstan’s favor”.

Kazakhstan filed a $1.6 billion claim against foreign firms developing the Karachaganak gas condensate field in 2015, one of the companies has said.

The Energy Ministry has said the row was over how each party’s share in the field’s output was calculated.

In September, Bozumbayev told Reuters the former Soviet republic had received an offer from the consortium, but considered it insufficient.

Eni and Shell each own 29.25 percent of the Karachaganak project in northwest Kazakhstan, which they jointly operate.

Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGaz owns 10 percent, Chevron Corp has 18 percent and Lukoil owns 13.5 percent.