NEW YORK and ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Sept.

European Commissioner for Energy, Mirek Topolanek, Former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Former President of the European Council, Selim Kuneralp, Chairman, Energy Charter Conference and Noe van Hulst,

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Concern is brewing amongst the international business community in Kazakhstan around the treatment of Tristan Oil, an oil and gas business. In an unprecedented move, the Prime Minister, together with the Minister of Energy, went to the headquarters of this privately owned business and told the staff they would be nationalizing the company. The Ministry submitted formal notifications to Tristan Oil's two operating companies, Kazpolmunay (KPM) and Tolkynneftegaz (TNG), stating that it had cancelled their subsoil use contracts with respect to certain Kazakh oil fields. These assets have now been expropriated with no proper legal foundation and the assets are now in the temporary custody of KazMunaiGaz, the state-owned oil and gas company. Local business sources believe that the cancellation of these contracts is the final step in a systematic campaign waged by the Kazakh authorities in 2008 to illegally expropriate KPM

The China National Petroleum Corporation and Kazakh state-owned energy company KazMunayGas have signed a framework agreement to expand co-operation in natural gas and pipeline operations.

The BG Group and the Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunayGas, have signed an agreement to co-operate on a joint analysis of the Kazakh natural gas market, intended to explore a range of opportunities in natural gas utilization and downstream development.