KazMunayGas (KMG) CEO Askhat Khassenov has made a working visit to China, where he has met with Xi Guohua, Chair of CITIC Group. The company is an active partner in the Aktau Bitumen Plant upgrade, which aims to boost production from 500 to 750 tons per year. Construction and erection works are to start in the fourth quarter of 2024.
«The head of KMG highlighted the importance of launching the plant in March 2025, before road-building season in Kazakhstan starts. He suggested revising the schedule to introduce 24-hour construction operations to meet the deadline,» the release says.
Additionally, the parties discussed possible strategies to accelerate the equipment manufacturing and optimize the shipping logistics to the Caspi Bitum facility.
The Aktau Bitumen Plant is the largest road bitumen producer in Central Asia. The plant had been in construction from 2010 to 2013 and commenced operations on December 12, 2013.
CITIC is one of China’s largest state investment corporations, with its headquarters in Beijing, established in 1979. It also implements projects to reconstruct Kazakhstan’s national highways. In particular, it is actively involved in construction works on 24 sites across a total distance of 1,100 kilometers on routes Taldykorgan-Ust-Kamenogorsk and Karaganda-Balkhash.
Moreover, KazMunayGas (KMG) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation International Limited (CNOOC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in China. This MoU implies a collaborative effort for joint geological research on promising exploration projects and the development of oil and gas deposits in Kazakhstan.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is one of the world’s leading oil and gas companies specializing in offshore exploration and extraction with assets concentrated in more than 20 countries on four continents.
