Skip to main content

424 May-Jun 2026

21 April 2026

NCOC loses appeal over sulphur storage fine

Written by Richard Hands

A consortium of major oil companies lost another court appeal in Kazakhstan over an environmental fine of approximately $5 billion related to the storage of excessive amounts of sulphur, according to a court ruling on April 8th. The penalty was levied against the North Caspian Operating Co. (NCOC), operator of the giant Kashagan oil field, for allegedly violating environmental regulations by stockpiling sulphur – a byproduct of processing the field’s sour gas – beyond permitted levels.


Despite the ruling, NCOC maintains that its sulphur management operations are in full compliance with Kazakh law and has stated it will “pursue all available avenues of recourse against this decision.” The venture is also challenging the fine through international arbitration.

Richard Hands

Read more from Richard Hands

Latest in Asia

Nickel Industries starts up ENC acid plant

Nickel Industries announced started up the sulphuric acid plant at its new Excelsior Nickel Cobalt (ENC) HPAL project in the final week of June. The ENC Project is a massive, multi-billion dollar high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) facility located in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is operated by Australia’s Nickel Industries to supply battery-grade materials for the electric vehicle (EV) market. At capacity, it is expected to yield roughly 72,000 t/a of contained nickel equivalent as mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), nickel sulphate, and nickel cathode.

Russia bans rail transport of Kazakh sulphur

Russia has ordered a “temporary cessation” of rail transport of all sulphur originating from Kazakhstan that is destined for Russian seaports and railway checkpoints, representing a significant policy shift, according to an official order from the Federal Agency for Railway Transport (Roszheldor). The directive, which took effect from May 26th, orders a halt to the loading and movement of Kazakh sulphur “until further notice.” While the measure is officially described as temporary, the order provides no specific timeline for when the transit might resume. The action cites instructions from Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, D.V. Manturov, as its basis.

Restart for Hongda smelter

Hongda's 100,000 t/a zinc smelter, in China's Sichuan Province, completed scheduled maintenance and equipment upgrading and officially resumed production on 21st June, the company said. The smelter had been shut down for planned maintenance since January, during which time a modernisation project for the electrolytic zinc smelting system was also carried out. Following the nearly six-month revamp, the resumption of production is expected to improve overall operational efficiency, reduce unit production costs, and increase the utilisation rate, The company said. The stable supply of sulphuric acid generated by the zinc smelter will effectively leverage the synergies of the "sulphur-phosphorus" industrial chain in the company, an help alleviate cost pressures on the company's phosphorus chemical business segment.