Kazakhstan warns miners, oil firms on environment

ASTANA Oct 8 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's Environmental Protection Ministry accused large oil and mining companies on Wednesday of failing to comply with their environmental commitments and threatened to halt their operations.

The ministry's list of alleged offenders includes an Eni-led (ENI.MI) consortium developing the major Kashagan oil field, Chevron-led (CVX.N) Tengizchevroil, as well as Kazakh companies KazMunaiGas E&P (KMGq.L) and Kazakhmys (KAZ.L).

Some analysts say Kazakhstan has taken its cue from Russia in using environmental issues as a tool to exert more control over its strategic oil and gas sector, currently dominated by Western energy companies.

"We need to take tougher measures," Minister Nurlan Iskakov told a ministry meeting. "If all these (planned) environmental projects are not implemented, we... must take all the measures including cancelling (companies') waste permits."

Companies operating in oil and mining sectors need to acquire a special waste permit from the government.

"This (failing to obtain a permit) would halt production altogether," said Kenes Temirkhanov, a senior ministry official.

The Kazakh authorities have long accused some of the biggest industry players of environmental violations -- a worry for foreign investors that want to continue with their projects in the resource-rich nation.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Ministry threatened to suspend Kashagan's operations altogether over such issues, but did not do so.

In another case, Chevron-led Tengizchevroil was fined $307 million this year for violating environmental law -- a decision the company has said it would challenge.

In 2003, Tengizchevroil was fined a separate $71 million at a time when Chevron and other private shareholders in Tengizchevroil were involved in a dispute with the government over financing and profit distribution.

But a Kazakh court eventually reduced the fine to $7 million after the shareholders gave in to the government's demands to distribute profits and finance expansion through debt. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Anthony Barker)