According to Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister, Vladimir Shkolnik, “The rig had been impounded because of unpaid taxes, customs duties and fines worth some US$6 million. The impounding of the rig [will] not damage the project.”

“This debate, probably not even a debate, but this dialogue has nothing to do with the [Kashagan] project itself. The project is going ahead such as it is,” he added.

The impounding of the Sunkar, which is the only floating rig exploring the country’s hydrocarbon deposits, has become yet another concern for foreign investors already spooked by Kazakhstan’s plans to hike oil taxes on new ventures.

At the heart of the matter is the Kazakhstan governments desire to purchase British Gas’ one-sixth stake in the project following the UK firm’s decision to pull out of Kashagan. The other members of the consortium want to divvy up the stakes amongst themselves; a move which the Kazakh government says it has the right to pre-empt.