Electricity availability has become a decisive factor in a country’s competitiveness and even its economic sovereignty, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, president of Kazakhstan, said in his annual address to the nation. Tokayev described the current period as an «era of electricity,» saying Kazakhstan must turn its resource wealth into sustainable energy development…
Shareholders of Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer and a portfolio company of Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund, will vote in November on whether to approve a contract to supply natural uranium to Uranium One Group, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom. The vote will be conducted in…
Askhat Khassenov, CEO of Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas (KMG), told reporters last week that Russia’s Lukoil, which is subject to Western sanctions, remains a strategic partner of the national oil and gas company. He said KMG is working to resolve financing issues affecting Kalamkas-Khazar Operating (KKO), a joint venture whose bank accounts…
MP Marat Shibutov proposed that Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction consider the mineral resources contained in accumulated mining waste. He said processing waste left by decades of mining could improve environmental conditions and free up land. Shibutov highlighted the potential of developing so-called technogenic mineral formations — accumulated mining…
Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) plans to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital twins for 12 oil fields by the end of 2028, using the technology to optimize extraction and improve operational efficiency. The project is expected to generate an estimated 326 billion tenge (about $722 million) in…
Kazakhstan’s PetroMining association said it had successfully conveyed the oil and gas industry’s concerns to the government, which has agreed not to introduce a planned increase in excise taxes on petroleum products starting Jan. 1, 2027. The proposed measure would have increased the state’s share of any fuel price increase…
The appointment of Alibek Kuantyrov as Kazakhstan’s minister of ecology and natural resources may signal the government’s intention to accelerate efforts to resolve a long-running environmental dispute with the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the operator of the Kashagan oil field, according to investment firm Teniz Capital Investment Banking. The…
Production at Kazakhstan’s three major oil and gas fields — Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak — fell short of targets in the first nine months of 2026, Vice Energy Minister Yerlan Akbarov said at a recent government meeting. Kazakhstan produced 69.4 million tons of oil during the January-September period, equal to…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and Dunga Operating GmbH have resolved a long-running dispute over nonrecoverable historical costs at the Dunga oil field. The investors will provide agreed financial compensation to the state and invest in a new phase of development, the ministry reported. An agreement settling disputes related to the…
Kazakhstani manufacturers of energy equipment aim to secure up to 52% of the construction costs of solar power plants in the country. Sergey Agafonov, chairman of the Kazakhstan Association of Energy Repair, Design and Engineering Companies, made the proposal in a letter to Ryskhan Nugurbekov, managing director of Baiterek, a…
Artificial intelligence will help people in Kazakhstan find jobs, create resumes and identify risks of unemployment. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is developing a digital employment service powered by AI, according to the ministry. The system will create digital profiles of citizens based on their education, work experience…
Plunging global agricultural prices significantly increase the risk of civil war in developing countries, according to a column by economist Antonio Ciccone published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Analyzing extensive data from 118 low- and middle-income countries between 1957 and 2007, Ciccone finds that a one-standard-deviation drop…
Shipments of Kazakhstani grain to Afghanistan increased 4.4-fold in the first eight months of 2026, reaching 655,000 tons, according to Deputy Minister of Transport Zhanibek Taizhanov. Read also: Cheap Russian grain threatens Kazakhstani farmers’ key markets. Kazakhstan transported 9.3 million tons of grain by rail during the period, up 13%…
The ownership structure of Sozak Oil and Gas, a gas producer planning to develop fields in the South Kazakhstan protected zone, has undergone a major transformation. How the ownership structure changed During the first half of 2026, the company’s principal shareholder significantly reduced its stake, while five new investors acquired…
Solidcore Resources, a Kazakhstan-based gold mining company, is set to invest $25 million in exploration across five sites in Japan as part of a strategic alliance with Japan Gold Corp., a Canadian-registered mineral exploration company. Solidcore may acquire stakes of up to 80% in some of the joint projects, the…
New tracts of land have been added to Kazakhstan’s state subsoil resource management program, with plans to offer them for licensing for hydrocarbon exploration and production, according to documents published on the Ministry of Energy’s website. Notably, some of the newly added tracts contain cemeteries and animal burial grounds. Specifically,…
Tin One Mining, a subsidiary of Solidcore Resources plc, Kazakhstan’s major gold producer, plans to begin ore extraction at the Syrymbet tin deposit in the North Kazakhstan region in 2027, according to the Committee for Environmental Regulation and Control (CERC). Production to begin in 2027 Under the revised plan, the…
According to Azamat Amrin, Kazakhstan’s first vice minister of national economy, the country could receive additional budget revenue if high oil prices persist. Crude oil is currently trading at around $100 per barrel, while Kazakhstan’s 2027 budget assumes an oil price of $70 per barrel. Therefore, higher-than-projected oil prices could…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense plans to conduct underwater surveys and explosive ordnance disposal operations in the country’s sector of the Caspian Sea to clear planned routes for subsea oil pipelines for the Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar project. The plans are outlined in the rationale for proposed amendments to Kazakhstan’s Tax Code,…
Kazakhstan’s Tau-Ken Samruk national mining company earned 111.4 billion tenge (about $250 million) in profit in the first half of the year, more than double its profit a year earlier. Nearly half of that amount — 55.2 billion tenge — came from the sale of a 70% stake in the…
Portugal is exploring whether deep layers of porous rock could store surplus renewable electricity, potentially offering a large-scale alternative to conventional batteries, Euronews reported. Researchers from NOVA University Lisbon and the University of Lisbon have studied how this technology, known as compressed-air energy storage, could help address one of the…
Companies working on complex projects in Kazakhstan will be required to gradually replace foreign specialists with Kazakhstani personnel under the Improved Model Contract (IMC). Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov announced the requirement at a recent cabinet meeting. However, his report did not clarify whether the changes cover Kazakhstan’s three largest oil…
Extreme heat could be far more damaging to global rice production than previously thought, according to a study by German scientists who analyzed hundreds of field experiments. The study was conducted by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in collaboration with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice has denied reports that the collection of a 2.3 trillion tenge (about $5 billion) environmental fine from NCOC, the operator of the Kashagan oil field, in favor of the state has been terminated. «NCOC has currently appealed the actions of the state bailiff. Therefore, the Atyrau…
