The Kazakh government is claiming in a confidential arbitration that international oil giants awarded $10.7 billion in contracts at the Kashagan oil field which had been compromised by self-dealing or unjustified cost increases, or were won through bribery, multiple sources have told ICIJ.

At the heart of the claim are around a dozen contracts that the Kashagan consortium of oil companies had issued to a handful of international engineering and construction firms that built key parts of the Kazakh mega field during the 2000s.

The claim amounts to the most serious accusation yet to surface from the Kazakh government in the closely watched international arbitration dispute between Central Asia’s biggest oil producing state and the North Caspian Operating Consortium (NCOC) that operates Kashagan. The consortium is made up of Shell, ExxonMobil, Eni, TotalEnergies, China National Petroleum Company and Japan’s Inpex.

The claim is part of a $160 billion international arbitration action over the Kashagan project that also includes allegations of lost profits and environmental damage.

The arbitration tribunal, registered at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, is yet to make any decision on the corruption claims, people familiar with the situation said.

The NCOC told ICIJ via email that the consortium members “consider that they have acted in accordance with the relevant contracts, [Kazakh] laws and applicable standards and best practices.”

“Due to the confidential nature of the proceedings, we are unable to provide further comments,” the consortium added.

Kazakhstan is contending that crucial delays at Kashagan, hailed as the world’s biggest oil find after Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, were in part caused by alleged corruption over contract awards to international companies and the mismanagement that ensued during the 2000s, sources told ICIJ.

These alleged corruption-related setbacks, Kazakhstan claims, postponed the start of full production at Kashagan and therefore the start of the profit-sharing phase — the most lucrative for the Kazakh state — even as the oil companies have continued to recover their claimed development costs. Available estimates for the latter hover around the $60 billion mark, though that is believed to be a conservative figure.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/caspian-cabals/behind-closed-doors-kazakhstan-challenges-decades-old-deal-with-160-billion-claim-against-big-oil/

CASPIAN CABALS Behind closed doors, Kazakhstan challenges decades-old deal with $160 billion claim against Big Oil Apr 16, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/caspian-cabals/timur-kulibayev-nazarbayev-kazakhstan-oil-riches/

Caspian Cabals Oil giants ignored red flags, enriched elite for Kazakhstan pipe dream Nov 22, 2024

https://www.icij.org/investigations/caspian-cabals/karachaganak-oil-field-kazakhstan-berezovka-chronic-illness/

BROKEN PROMISES The lost village: Western oil companies enriched Kazakhstan’s power brokers — and left a community in ruins Nov 22, 2024

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Boxing promoter Daniel Kinahan has been charged with directing the activities of a criminal organization after being extradited from Dubai to his native Ireland amid a huge security operation.

Authorities allege that Kinahan, 49, oversaw a global narco-trafficking operation that was tied to a bloody gang war in Ireland that resulted in numerous killings.

Kinahan was taken to the Special Criminal Court in Dublin under armed escort after being flown to an aerodrome west of the city on a Dassault Falcon 6X by the Irish Air Corps.

Unrepresented in court, he was ordered to remain in custody at Portlaoise Prison, a high-security prison about 90 miles south of the capital.

Ahead of his return, Kinahan reportedly told podcaster James English that he was “looking forward to getting home,” although conceded his return would be “bittersweet.”

Daniel Kinahan’s father, Kinahan cartel founder Christopher Sr, and brother, Christopher Jr, remain in Dubai despite being global law enforcement targets.

U.S. authorities issued wanted posters for members of the Kinahan family. Image: via U.S. State Department

Kinahan Sr previously served time in Portlaoise Prison for trafficking heroin.

Two others alleged to be leaders of the Kinahan cartel, Ian Thomas Dixon and Bernard Patrick Clancy, also remain free in Dubai.

Large rewards have been offered for information leading to the men’s arrests and convictions.

Daniel Kinahan followed in the path of 40-year-old Sean McGov­ern, the first Kinahan car­tel mem­ber to be extra­dited from Dubai to Dub­lin last year.

McGovern, a senior lieutenant in the group, was convicted of directing the activities of a criminal organization and is serving 24 years in prison.

Another key alleged Kinahan cartel figure, John Francis Morrissey, is currently on bail in Spain, where he is facing a money laundering investigation.

Authorities say the Kinahan drug smuggling and money laundering empire stretched from the U.A.E to Ireland, the U.K., Colombia, Spain, the Netherlands, the U.S., Australia, Brazil and Zimbabwe.

A European Union investigation found the group used dozens of front companies to move heroin, cocaine and other drugs.

ICIJ uncovered Emirati corporate records showing that Kinahan and his younger brother established several Dubai companies.

https://www.icij.org/news/2025/05/christopher-kinahan-cian-sharkhin-portlaoise-prison-writing/

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https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2025/03/drug-kingpin-daniel-kinahan-was-paid-millions-of-dollars-under-the-table-to-be-top-promoters-exclusive-agent-court-complaint-alleges/

KINAHAN CARTEL Drug kingpin Daniel Kinahan was paid millions ‘under the table’ to be boxing promoter’s exclusive agent, court complaint alleges Mar 05, 2025

https://www.icij.org/news/2024/05/dubai-property-portfolio-calls-into-question-effectiveness-of-sanctions-on-kinahan-cartel-leader-experts-say/

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