Kazakhstan ambassador, congressman look at oil deal

The nation of Kazakhstan is little known in Louisiana, but that will probably change soon because the central Asian country, and former Soviet republic, possesses great amounts of oil.

Kazakhstan, which borders the Caspian Sea, has fully developed its inshore oil supplies, but huge untapped reserves – estimated to be as much as 100 billion barrels – lie under the Caspian seabed. The new nation is now aggressively looking for expertise to develop those offshore supplies.

The country’s ambassador to the U.S., Erlan Idrissov, came to Lafourche Parish for two days last week to tour Port Fourchon and, most importantly, forge ties between the Louisiana oilfield services industry and his nation.

Kazakhstan is in the process of developing a huge onshore support facility on the Caspian Sea similar to Port Fourchon.

“We don’t have experience offshore,” Idrissov said during his visit to Port Fourchon. “It’s no good inventing the bicycle by yourself. You partner with guys who invented the bicycle. This is why I am here. We want to be advanced like Port Fourchon.”

“In Louisiana, I’ve met people, and it’s a huge asset,” he said. “You’re very hospitable. Family is important here. I like the warmth of Louisiana’s people. It took courage to do what you did after the hurricanes.”

The Kazakh people are also noted for their hospitality. The ambassador was no exception, jovially sprinkling his talk at Port Fourchon’s Operations Center with light comments.

He accepted a souvenir alligator head from U.S. Representative Charlie Melancon (D-Napoleonville) and reciprocated by presenting Ted Falgout, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, with a figurine made of animal bone representing longevity in Kazakh culture.

Idrissov said, “Melancon is good friends with Kazakhstan.”

The Congressman went there in November 2005 as an election observer.

“It’s an interesting country,” he said. “They’ve got something everybody wants – energy. They’re looking at the oil services industry, shallow-water drilling – everything Louisiana did in the 1940s. They need petroleum engineers, mining specialists. Engineering is becoming a priority.”

Melancon said second-generation owners of the large shipbuilders and oilfield services businesses in south Louisiana are looking to partner with Kazakhstan. Having a safe place to invest is crucial.

“If you invest money, you want to feel comfortable there won’t be a seizure of what you own,” Melancon said. “You have a democracy (in Kazakhstan). They can depend on it resembling more like a European country.”

Idrissov said most of the major U.S. oil companies, including ChevronTexaco and Conoco-Phillips, are committed to petroleum exploration in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan.

However, oil production in the Caspian differs from the same process in the Gulf of Mexico in two significant ways.

Much drilling in the Gulf occurs in deep water and the rigs are threatened by hurricanes. Drilling in the Caspian will happen in shallow water and the rigs will have to battle ice.

“It’s a technical challenge,” he said. “We pin our hopes on our resources, energy. We’ve produced oil for a hundred years but it was onshore.”

Idrissov called Louisiana Governor-elect Bobby Jindal “young and robust,” pointing out that Kazakhstan also has a young leader governing a state bordering the Caspian Sea. The two should meet, he said.

“We feel ourselves a big family,” Idrissov said. “I would hope Congressman Melancon would go to Kazakhstan with his family members. I hope Ted Falgout would join him.”

Good relations between Louisiana and Kazakhstan should be relatively easy to achieve. Kazakhstan promotes itself as a tolerant society, claiming a 100 percent literacy rate.

Naturally, though, cultural differences exist.

For instance, horsemeat is a main component of the Kazakh diet and Sunni Islam is the religion of a majority of the country’s 15.5 million people.

But those differences will no doubt pose few problems as long as oil is around to grease relations.

“I thank you for your hospitality and your fantastic food,” Idrissov said. “This is my first time tasting an oyster. I’m half Louisianan now.”

Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the U.S., and Congressman Charlie Melancon, who made an appearance at Port Fourchon last week, are working on a deal that would provide the central Asian country with the expertise it needs to drill its oil reserves under the Caspian Sea. * Photo by MIKE BROSSETTE