Lawmakers in Kazakhstan have approved a bill to empower the state to annul natural resource contracts, strengthening the oil-rich Central Asian republic's hand in its dispute with foreign oil groups led by Eni of Italy at the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea.

The Majilis, Kazakhstan's parliament, yesterday voted unanimously for an amendment to the natural resource law to allow the government to cancel or introduce retrospective changes to contracts perceived to harm the national economic interest.