In the 10 years since its independence the Republic of
Kazakhstan has enacted an impressive body of commercial and fiscal
legislation to govern foreign investment. These steps have been
designed to win the confidence of the foreign investment community,
which is eager to tap into the enormous natural resource wealth of
the country.
General
The principal legislation governing petroleum operations in
Kazakhstan is the Petroleum Law dated June 28 1995 and the Subsoil
Code dated January 27 1996.
The Subsoil Code and Petroleum Law
The Subsoil Code, relating to all subsoil resources, is the
principal legislation for the granting of subsoil rights in
Kazakhstan. It concentrates on the contracting and subsoil rights
aspects of a hydrocarbon project, while the more narrow Petroleum
Law applies specifically to subsoil users conducting petroleum
operations. The legislation establishes that the subsoil, including
resources in their underground state, are state property, while
resources brought to the surface belong to the subsoil user,...