DHAKA: Chinese president Xi Jinping on Saturday will oversee China’s entry into Kashagan, a vast oilfield in Kazakhstan, as he tours post-Soviet Central Asia to secure hydrocarbons for the world`s largest energy consumer.

The US$5 billion deal further increases China’s rising clout in Central Asia, once Russia’s imperial backyard, and blocks an attempt by global rival India to get a stake in the oilfield, the world’s largest oil discovery in five decades.

Kazakhstan will sell 8.33 percent of the offshore oilfield to China for about US$5 billion in a deal to be signed during Xi’s visit to Kazakh capital Astana later on Saturday, Kazakh government sources told media, reports The Straits Times.

The sale and purchase agreement will be signed by the heads of Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), said the officials, who requested anonymity.

BDST: 1602 HRS, SEPT 07, 2013
RoR/RIS