This book deals with the oil industry in Kazakhstan with which the political and economical future of the country is inseparably intertwined. In particular, it explores the Kazakh regime under Nursultan Nazarbayev and the methods used to control the oil industry. Investigating the interplay between the regime and the actors located in and around two cores, the National Oil Company (NOC) and the oil-rich areas, the book focuses on instances where players involved with the oil industry, whether directly or indirectly, attempted to challenge the regime's authority in those two centers. It reveals that moments of crisis uncover the regime's maintenance techniques.The author shows that in order to establish and sustain its control over the oil industry, the Kazakh regime used formal, informal and quasi-formal tools, and entered into a tacit agreement with foreign oil companies. The transition from formal to informal techniques accelerated during the process of privatization of the oil industry. Significantly, the introduction of the informal tools was accompanied by the gradual Kazakhization of the oil industry, which aimed at strengthening the regime's ties with its clients.Based on extensive field work in Kazakhstan and in-depth interviews with high ranking representatives of companies working in Kazakhstan's oil and gas industry (local and foreign), NOC KazMunaiGas and its subsidiaries, government agencies, foreign diplomats, journalists and representatives of oppositional parties and NGOs, this book provides an informed study of Kazakhstan's oil industry and its interplay with the interests of the government.