Kazak Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said on April 13 that the government had designated state-owned company QazaqGaz as the single operator of the Karachaganak gas processing plant and that the project was advancing toward a preconstruction planning phase, following the earlier signing of a basic cooperation agreement with China's CITIC Construction. Akkenzhenov also warned that unresolved talks with the Karachaganak consortium were continuing to delay the project's transition to active construction.

The dispute centers on Astana's talks with Karachaganak's foreign majors, chiefly Eni and Shell, over raw gas supply, pricing, infrastructure integration and evacuation fees. The plant is meant in part to reduce reliance on Russia's Orenburg plant, which has long processed Karachaganak gas. On March 21, Kazakhstan said it no longer viewed the gas plant as a project to be built under the current production-sharing agreement framework.