KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company, reported that oil production at the Dunga field in the Mangystau region reached 340,000 tons between January and June 2025, an increase of 7,000 tons year-on-year.
In 2024, the field produced 630,000 tons of oil, and KMG is projecting the output to rise to 649,300 tons in 2025.
Askhat Khassenov, KMG’s CEO, recently visited the Dunga field during a working trip to the region. As part of the visit, he held a meeting with representatives of Dunga Operating GmbH, the company developing the field. Discussions focused on the supply and construction of new gas compressors, as well as the current status of an 18-kilometer export oil pipeline project.
In 2023, KMG acquired a 60% stake in the Dunga project from French energy giant TotalEnergies. Following the acquisition, the operating company was renamed Dunga Operating GmbH.
Dunga Operating GmbH holds a 60% interest in the field, which produces roughly 7,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The remaining shareholders are Oman Oil Company Limited (20%) and PTTEP (Kazakhstan) Corporation (20%).
Preferential rights
In late 2022, TotalEnergies signed an agreement to sell its subsidiary, Total E&P Dunga GmbH, to Oriental Sunrise Corp. Ltd. — a Kazakh company registered just days before the sale at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) — for $330 million. However, the deal was subject to approval by Kazakh authorities and required a waiver of the partners’ preemptive rights.
KMG exercised its preemptive right to acquire stakes in domestic oil and gas projects, securing approval from the Ministry of Energy. Although the acquisition faced delays, the deal was finalized in November 2023.
Notably, Kazakhstan’s Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition (APDC) proposed in January 2024 to revoke KMG’s preferential rights to explore and produce fields in the country.
The Dunga oil and gas field, located in the Tupkaragan district of the Mangystau region, holds estimated geological reserves of 106 million tons of oil and over 6 billion cubic meters of gas. It is operated under a production sharing agreement.
