By 2030, Kazakhstan expects to not only fully meet domestic fuel demand but also begin exporting finished petroleum products to Central Asian countries. To achieve this, the country is expanding the capacity of existing refineries and preparing a project to build a fourth refinery.
Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov made the announcement at a session of the Kurultai, Kazakhstan’s parliament, in response to a deputy’s question about domestic refinery utilization and fuel shortages.
According to Akkenzhenov, Kazakhstan’s three largest refineries — Atyrau, Shymkent and Pavlodar — processed 18.4 million tons of crude oil and produced around 15.5 million tons of finished petroleum products last year. This covered more than 90% of the country’s domestic demand.
Jet fuel remains a weak point. Kazakhstan still cannot fully meet domestic demand, so it imports around 300,000 tons of jet fuel from Russia. The roughly 25 mini-refineries currently operating in the country cannot cover the shortfall.
«Virtually none of them produces fuel that meets the quality standards set by the Customs Union’s technical regulations,» Akkenzhenov said.
To meet domestic demand and develop export potential, the government adopted a concept for the development of the oil refining industry. The authorities plan to increase the capacity of the Shymkent Oil Refinery from 6 million to 12 million tons per year, with the project’s feasibility study scheduled for completion in late 2026. The government also plans to increase the capacity of the Pavlodar Oil Chemistry Refinery by 2 million tons.
Additional diesel fuel hydrotreating lines will be built at the Atyrau Oil Refinery to eliminate bottlenecks. At the same time, consultants are finalizing the feasibility study for the fourth refinery, with potential sites being considered in the Ulytau, Atyrau and Mangystau regions.
«Overall, Kazakhstan is expected to not only fully meet its domestic needs but also be ready to export finished petroleum products to Central Asian countries by 2030,» the minister said.
To maintain stability during the modernization period, the Kurultai passed a law in two readings ratifying a protocol to an agreement with Russia on oil and petroleum product supplies.
The document retains a mechanism for annually agreeing on indicative fuel balances and duty-free fuel imports from Russia. The duty-free regime is expected to save Kazakhstan around 30 billion tenge (about $66.6 million) in 2026, of which 15.75 billion tenge (about $35 million) will be attributable to diesel fuel, 8.61 billion tenge ($19.1 million) to jet fuel and 5.59 billion tenge ($12.4 million) to gasoline.
