Kazakhstan Gives Oil Majors 40 Days to Pay $4 Billion Pollution Fine

Kazakhstan’s environmental-protection ministry has formally instructed international oil companies working in the country to pay a $4 billion fine for alleged sulfur pollution, reiterating a penalty first imposed earlier this year. The ministry said the companies, led by the North Caspian Operating Co. consortium, have 40 days to settle the assessment. The order comes only weeks after the producers declared they had prevailed in the dispute, highlighting continued tension between the government and the operators of Kazakhstan’s largest oil developments. Ministry officials did not specify enforcement steps should the firms miss the deadline, but maintained that the penalty remains in full force.