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Kazakhstan announces existence of large hydrocarbon fields

7 October 2015 16:42 (UTC+04:00)
Kazakhstan announces existence of large hydrocarbon fields

By Aynur Karimova

Geological exploration in Kazakhstan at depths of 7,000-15,000 meters may lead to the discovery of more than 20 large hydrocarbon deposits.

This was announced by Magzum Mirzagaliyev, Kazakhstan's Deputy Energy Minister, at the KIOGE-2015 oil and gas conference in Almaty on October 7.

He said that Kazakhstan's hydrocarbon production is expected to decline in 15-20 years, including in the largest oil fields of the country – Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan.

"Filling the resource base can only be achieved at the expense of exploration, primarily in deep-lying horizons, where there is a probability of the discovery of more than two dozen major fields," the deputy minister noted.

Mirzagaliyev also rebuked local experts who claim "the era of easy oil is in the past" by recalling the Kazakh-led Eurasia Project, aimed at exploring major oil and gas reserves located at depths of 7,000 to 15,000 meters.

"This project will allow us to attract large companies and to maintain production plateau at a level of about 100 million tons per year in the long term," Mirzagaliyev noted.

Kazakhstan produces oil mainly from its large Karachaganak and Tengiz fields.

The Karachaganak field is one of the world's largest fields. Its oil reserves amount to 1.2 billion tons, while natural gas reserves are estimated at 1.35 trillion cubic meters.

About 49 percent of Kazakhstan's gas and 18 percent of its oil are extracted from this field.

The Tengiz field in the west of the country is one of the deepest and largest oil fields in the world. The total estimated reserves amount to three billion tons (26 billion barrels).

Another large oil and gas field – Kashagan – is located in the north of the Caspian Sea. Oil production at Kashagan started in September 2013, but operations were suspended when a gas leak appeared in the pipeline.

The Eurasia Project is estimated to cost about $500 million and will be carried out in three phases: The first phase envisages the collection and processing of materials from previous years. The second phase includes large-scale research. The last phase includes the drilling of a new support-parametric well, called Caspian 1, at a depth of nearly 14,000-15,000 meters.

Equal rights for domestic and foreign suppliers with

Touching upon the measures that Kazakhstan enacted after its accession to the World Trade Organization, Mirzagaliyev said that requirements regarding purchase of goods, work and services by subsoil users will be removed from the legislation by 2021.

He noted that WTO accession will be a serious challenge for Kazakhstan's domestic producers and domestic suppliers of work and services.

"According to the agreements reached during the WTO accession, Kazakhstan has undertaken an obligation limiting the country’s role in the subsoil use market,” he said. “Thus, the requirements about the local content in goods and the current conditional discount at a rate of 20 percent for the Kazakh suppliers will be removed from the norms of the legislation."

In late July, Kazakhstan signed a protocol on WTO accession. Kazakhstan will officially become the WTO’s 162nd member in late 2015 following the settlement of all procedural formalities.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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