Chevron-led oil venture to fight Kazakh fine

By Maria Golovnina

ALMATY (Reuters) - A Chevron-led oil venture in Kazakhstan denied on Thursday it was violating environmental laws and said that it will fight a $609 million fine imposed on it by the government.

The move against Chevron alarmed investors working in Kazakhstan where the government is locked in a parallel row with an Italian-led consortium developing another oilfield, Kashagan.

Environmental Protection Minister Nurlan Iskakov announced the fine after accusing the Chevron-led project of making slow progress in removing open air sulfur stocks at the huge Tengiz oilfield in the west of the Central Asian state.

But the venture, Tengizchevroil, denied violating legislation and said it would challenge the accusation in court.

"I am not going to speculate on the Kazakh government position or on their motivations," Todd Levy, Tengizchevroil general director, said on the sidelines of an energy conference.

"With regard to sulfur, we store it completely in line with international standards, completely in alignment with environmental legislation. ... We disagree with the claim. And we are fighting it aggressively."

Separately, Kazakhstan has piled pressure on the Eni-led Kashagan consortium over cost and schedule overruns, in a campaign that has also included accusations of ecology breaches.

Analysts are watching both cases closely, already alarmed by last month's legislative moves to allow the government to cancel contracts if it saw a threat to national security.