Kazakhstan wants to boost its oil output by a quarter
Kazakhstan’s cabinet has approved a comprehensive plan for further development of big oil and gas projects in 2023-2027, which implies that the oil output must be boosted from the current 89 million tons per year to 105.5 million tons by 2027.
«The government of Kazakhstan has approved the comprehensive plan on evolving big oil and gas projects over the period from 2023 to 2027. Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has signed the corresponding decree. According to this document, the production of oil within fields such as Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan must be increased up to 105.5 million tons of oil and 82.1 cubic meters of gas by 2027,» the press service of the prime minister said in a statement.
In addition, the comprehensive plan also implies the implementation of 20 big projects in the sphere of oil and gas production, oil refinery and petrochemicals with expected investments off $37.3 billion. For instance, the government wants to build new gas-processing plants and implement three big projects in the area of oil refineries. Modernization of the Shymkent refinery by 2029 is the biggest one. The plant is expected to boost its output from six to twelve million tons per year. To provide the facility with additional crude oil, the government will facilitate works on the Kenkiyan-Atyrau and Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipelines. Their capacity is expected to be increased from 6 to 15 million tons and from 10 to 20 million tons per year, respectively.
The government also plans to boost Kazakhstan’s petrochemical industry with the help of the construction of the first integrated petrochemical plant designed to produce polyethylene. The plant is going to have a capacity of 1.25 million tons of product per year. It will also include a gas-absorption facility with a capacity of 9.1 billion cubic meters of gas a year. In the sphere of geological exploration, the plan covers seven different projects with total investments of $10 billion. Among the most vital projects in this sphere are the preparation to start production of the Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar oil fields; the development of the Urikhtau gas field and the Karaton-Podsolevoy exploration project.
According to Askhat Khassenov, vice minister of energy of Kazakhstan, the country is about to produce 89 million tons of oil this year compared to a plan of 90.5 million tons.
«There might be some changes. Our initial plan, designed up to the end of 2023, implied that we would produce 90.5 million tons of oil this year. However, over the first eight months of 2023, we fell behind the schedule. If nothing bad happens until the end of the year, we’ll do our best to catch up with the initial plan. We probably won’t reach 90.5 million tons but’ll produce 89 million tons of oil. That’s for sure,» he told reporters.
As the official noted, almost all big oil and gas projects currently conduct maintenance work that can affect their production results. However, if they manage to complete those overhauls earlier by several days, it will help us to bridge the gap between the plan and actual oil output.
«Even one or two days can make a difference. I mean this would help us to boost oil output. In 2023, we were supposed to produce 90.5 million tons of oil but this figure will likely decline to 89 million tons. Yes. The decline is possible,» the vice energy minister emphasized.
Last year, Kazakhstan reported 84.2 million tons of oil compared to 85.7 million tons produced in 2022. On September 23, 2023, Vice Minister of National Economy Azamat Amrin said that the country’s oil output rose by 6.6% from January to August 2023, although he didn’t provide any details in absolute figures. According to the Bureau of National Statistics under the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan, over the first eight months of 2023, the country produced 56.09 million tons of oil and gas condensate.
On August 15, Almasadam Satkaliyev, at the time minister of energy, told reporters that the ministry cut its outlook for oil output in 2023 to 89.4 million tons.
