The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan and JSC “National company “KazMunayGas” are pleased to announce the successful completion of the negotiations with the North Caspian Sea consortium on the detailed agreements for the future development of the Kashagan field. The Kashagan negotiations commenced over a year ago and resulted in a series of Memoranda of Understanding, the last of which, dated June 25, 2008, set forth the basic terms that have now been implemented in detailed, definitive agreements signed today. The new agreements improve the economic terms for the Republic and increase the equity stake of KMG's subsidiary to equal that of the largest participants (Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total), allocating to it a major role in future operations. At the same time, the agreements provide strong cost and schedule control mechanisms designed to prevent recurrence of the problems which led to the renegotiation last year. The Republic now looks forward to successful implementation of the project.