Petrolinvest, an oil company founded by Ryszard Krauze has been given a convertible loan of $50 million by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which will allow it to finance the completion of drilling work in Kazakhstan.

WSE-listed Petrolinvest has already invested $340 million in searching for oil in Kazakhstan but hasn't yet begun selling its output. The firm believes it can extract over two billion barrels from its reserves in Kazakhstan.

“Supporting cross-border expansion of Polish private companies is one of the EBRD priorities alongside the promotion of more widespread private ownership in the oil and gas sector in Kazakhstan,” said Kevin Bortz, EBRD Director for Natural Resources, in a press release. (GP)