. GPS News .




.
ENERGY TECH
Employer denies Kazakh oil worker strike
by Staff Writers
Astana, Kazakhstan (UPI) Jul 20, 2011

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

European parliamentary member Paul Murphy, currently in Kazakhstan, is claiming that 4,000 oil workers in Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan's Mangistau Region are on strike.

However, the Razvedka i Dobycha KazMunaiGaz joint-stock company, which operates the oil company in question, denies the assertions, Almaty's Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported this week.

A release from Razvedka i Dobycha KazMunaiGaz claims that Murphy's statement "does not conform to reality."

The company said 850 people didn't report to work Monday but that the staff at the site is 9,180 people.

Murphy, on his Web site, said the Kazakh national press agency issued a news release that was "an attempt to undermine the purpose of my visit."

Murphy said he was in the area taking part in "GUE / NGL (European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group) delegation to Kazakhstan to meet with trade unionists, community activists, striking workers, opposition parties and human rights organizations."

The dispute has the potential to escalate, as Murphy's Web site released a statement noting, "The European Parliament today reiterated its support for Murphy's statements on the situation in the country in light of false claims from the Kazakhstan national press agency that he is there only in a personal capacity."

Since 1991 the development of Kazakhstan's hydrocarbon resources has been Central Asia's biggest success story. In the past two decades, since the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has attracted more than $120 billion in foreign direct investment, with nearly all of the funding going into developing Kazakhstan's energy industry.

That industry sector had been largely overlooked in the 1970s as western Siberia's massive oil reserves came online.

Of the 15 former Soviet republics, Kazakhstan is sitting on the sole "superfield" discovered in the last three decades, with its Kashagan offshore Caspian super-field, the largest oil field outside the Middle East.

In terms of reserves, the Kashagan field is fifth largest in the world, with recoverable reserves estimated at 9 billion-16 billion barrels. When fully developed, Kashagan will have a projected peak production of 1.3 million barrels per day.

But labor disputes have been rising in the Kazakh energy industry over the past several years, with many workers complaining that they are paid a fraction of their Western colleagues' salaries. The Zhanaozen dispute is potentially the tip of the iceberg in terms of labor disputes in Kazakhstan's most profitable industry.




Related Links
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



ENERGY TECH
Philippine MPs visit Spratlys despite China warning
Thitu Island, South China Sea (AFP) July 20, 2011
Defiant Philippine lawmakers flew to an island in the disputed Spratly chain Wednesday, ignoring warnings from China that the trip would destabilise the region and damage ties. Five members of parliament, joined by a small party of soldiers, local officials and journalists, arrived on Thitu island aboard two private planes and raised two Philippine flags above a government building. Legi ... read more


ENERGY TECH
Fukushima cattle farmers despair over beef ban

Link found between increased crops and deforestation in Amazon, but issue not so cut and dry

Chile is more dangerous for Argentina than vice versa

Japan bans Fukushima beef shipments over radiation

ENERGY TECH
Soft Memory Device Opens Door To New Biocompatible Electronics

Expert help from a distance

NIST prototype optics table on a chip places microwave photon in 2 colors at once

Light propagation controlled in photonic chips marks major breakthrough in telecommunications field

ENERGY TECH
Boeing casts net wider for Brazil jet deal

Flight Options buys Embraer executive jets

Aerospace plant opened in Romania

DLR examines the benefits of sectorless airspace

ENERGY TECH
ICT and automotive: New app reduces motorway pile-ups by 40 percent

Toyota to merge units in face of strong yen

Belgium's highways shine into space - but for how long?

China's auto sales growth 'to slow sharply' in 2011

ENERGY TECH
Japan posts surprise trade surplus

IMF urges China to reform economy, starting with yuan

Taiwan boosts profile of Hong Kong, Macau offices

Vancouver real estate prices fanned by Chinese

ENERGY TECH
Forests soak up third of fossil fuel emissions: study

Lack of meaningful land rights threaten Indonesian forests

Forest trees remember their roots

Tribes welcome Indonesia's pledge to forest people

ENERGY TECH
Aura Satellite Measures Pollution Butterfly from Fires in Central Africa

Strong El Nino could bring increased sea levels, storm surges to US East Coast

Tsunami airglow signature could lead to early detection system

Underwater Antarctic Volcanoes

ENERGY TECH
Hydrogen may be key to growth of high-quality graphene

The wonders of graphene on display

City dwellers produce as much CO2 as countryside people do

Graphene may gain an 'on-off switch,' adding semiconductor to long list of achievements


Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News
.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement