ALMATY, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The British oil and gas company Victoria Oil & Gas has filed a lawsuit against Kazakhstan under the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty, Kazinform news agency reported on Tuesday.

The case has been registered with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The Energy Charter Treaty which entered into force in 1998, contains provisions on investment protection and trade in the energy sector.

The British company had already announced in April 2021 its intention to seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation over the termination of its contract for oil exploration and production at the Kemerkol field in Atyrau region, according to a Kazakhstan's non-governmental public organization Energy Monitor.

Zhumagulov also recalled that in 2005, Victoria Oil & Gas acquired a 100 percent stake in Kemerkol from Saga Creek Gold Ltd for 8.5 million dollars. The company drilled several wells and estimated potential geological reserves at 15 million tons of oil. However, in 2008, its subsoil use contract was terminated without explanation.

Later that same year, rights to Kemerkol were transferred to Bakyt Tau LLP for 360 million tenge (about 716 thousand U.S. dollars), and in 2016, they were sold to Ap-Nafta Operating LLP for 1.36 billion tenge (about 2.7 million U.S. dollars). Enditem

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