Kazakhstan said on Friday it had agreed with an Eni-led consortium to pay more than $600 million for half of British BG\'s stake in the giant Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian Sea. The sprawling ex-Soviet state in Central Asia could become one of the world\'s top 10 producers in the next decade and the Kashagan move reflects its desire to bring back under direct state influence strategic parts of the industry driving growth. The deal to buy half of the 16.67 percent stake in Kashagan comes nearly two years after BG first tried to pull out of the project and sell the stake to two Chinese firms -- a move that was blocked by other consortium members exercising preemption rights. \"They (the consortium) have finally agreed with us and gave their consent. Thus, the (Kazakh) state will buy out 50 percent of this share,\" Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Vladimir Shkolnik told the Senate upper chamber of parliament. \"This means that pretty large oil assets are returning under state control,\" he said. Kazakhstan\'s sector of the Caspian Sea is the key to its growing oil production -- fueling annual GDP growth just below 10 percent -- and Shkolnik later told reporters that new Caspian blocks would come up for tender later this year. The estimated market value of BG\'s stake in Kashagan is worth $1.23 billion, Shkolnik said, the same price at which BG had earlier agreed to sell its stake to its partners. \"To know the agreed price (for 50 percent of BG\'s stake), divide it by two,\" he said, adding the government might resort to external borrowing or the state budget to pay for the share. Kazakhstan\'s state oil and gas firm KazMunaiGas last week put the value of BG\'s stake at $1.36 billion. (Reuters)