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Business forum “Future of the Oil and Gas Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan”

7 march 2019
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TOO KAZPETROL GROUP, being an associate member and representative of the international holding KUSTO GROUP, has been invited by KAZENERGY, NPP Atameken, supported by Forbes Kazakhstan and the general sponsor of the event Talan Towers, to the business forum on the topic “Future of the Oil and Gas Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, to discuss with top managers and representatives of major domestic and foreign companies, such as Kalamkas-Sea, KER-1 Karachaganak, NERP Tengiz the topics like export of oilfield services, localization of large-scale production, WTO and Kazakhstan content, increasing opportunities for Kazakhstan in the Kazakhstan market and other issues of concern in the oil and gas sector of Kazakhstan, where the moderator was Armanzhan Baytasov, the owner of Forbes Kazakhstan, the Chairman of the Board of Forbes Russia.

Our company at this business forum was presented by Deputy Director General for GR Batyrzhan Sabyrbekuly Daulet and he shared his impressions:

The participants of this forum tried to consecrate on such questions like: What is the future of the oil and gas industry in Kazakhstan? What opportunities and threats might we have? What are the strengths and weaknesses of our oil industry today?

It is important to note that world prices for Brent oil rose over three quarters of the last year: from $68.89 per barrel in January to $82.73 in September, and in October-December they dropped to $53.8 per barrel , today the price runs in the corridor from $60-67 per barrel, and all players want to see its rise in order to increase their potential for oil production.

In 2018, Kazakhstan produced a record amount of oil in its entire history of Independence - 90.36 million tons, of which 72.5 million tons were exported, this is by 4.8% more compared to 2017 production, in 2016 we produced 78 million tons of oil.

Aset Magauov, General Director of the KAZENERGY Association, noted:

“First of all, this became possible due to the increase in the capacities of large fields - Kashagan, Tengiz-Chevroil. It is expected that in the coming years we will maintain these volumes. At the same time, there are problems: large fields provide about 60% of Kazakhstan oil, the rest – about 40%, and thanks to the smaller fields the supply of Kazakhstani refineries is guaranteed. Now we have draft of amendments to the Environmental Code and related laws. Transnational companies investing in the oil and gas sector of Kazakhstan, assess the market situation as favorable. Yes, there are problems with high costs and others, but they are all solvable. ”

Managing Director of Total Pascal Brean proposed to simplify the entry of new investors into the market, because it will increase the level of competition in the industry, start looking for ways to actively use digitalization opportunities in the business, and also noted that Kazakhstan should also look for new ways to attract investors, because this is also one of elements of the country's competitiveness.

The chairman of Shell in Kazakhstan Olivier Lazar told interesting details about the Khazar-Kalamkas offshore project, a field located in the Caspian Sea. According to him, today, the cost of developing the Caspian Sea is three times higher than similar projects in the Gulf of Mexico, due to difficult climate, turbid water and other factors the prices of service is higher. He noted the following problems:

“We need active assistance from the Ministry of Energy, from other government agencies. It is necessary to understand that this project is the first Kazakhstani sea project and, in order to further guarantee the success of the development of the Caspian Sea, it is necessary to make it happen. We are considering several options for the development of the oil and gas sector in the future. We see great potential in the development of renewable energy sources and are actively working on such projects, including in Kazakhstan. But we also see the long-term future of oil and gas. We tried to assess whether humanity is able to adhere to the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2% per year, as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, and we understand that this requires incredible efforts from society and states, extensive projects in the field of renewable energy. But even with the fulfillment of these extreme tasks, oil and gas will occupy about 85% of the energy balance till 2050. "

The forum participants were in solidarity with such a global statement of the question, but, returning to local trends, the forum moderator Armanzhan Baytasov, concluding the discussion, said the following:

“If we talk about trends, Kazakhstan is increasing its oil production. Today, our country produces more than 90 million tons of oil and in the future these figures will only grow. In addition, we must not forget that oil and gas comprises more than 60% of the National Fund of the country and more than 30% of the budget, therefore, the amount of oil we produce and at what price we sell, in one way or another, influences the life of every Kazakhstani person. ”

          

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