Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Investment worth more than $17 billion has been made in the development of the Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field in Kazakhstan, CEO of the Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO) Damiano Ratti said during Kazakh Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov's working visit to the Western Kazakhstan province.

"The success of Karachaganak has become possible due to strong collaborative partnerships between Kazakhstan, the local community and Karachaganak partners," Ratti said.

According to him, thanks to the investments made in Karachaganak, direct transfers to the Kazakh budget from the project amounted to $8.8 billion.

In order to enhance hydrocarbon recovery and ensure maximum economic return for Kazakhstan and the project partners, KPO has utilized leading production and hydrocarbon processing technology in developing the Karachaganak project, Ratti added.

Ratti also said that in past years, KPO has established long-term partnerships with many Kazakh enterprises.

KPO is one of the first companies in Kazakhstan to have successfully introduced Local Content Development Program. Implementation of the program has allowed drawing more than 3,000 Kazakh companies to the development of Karachaganak.

Currently, KPO's investments into the development of the West Kazakhstan province's social infrastructure have exceeded $240 million.

During his visit Prime Minister Akhmetov was acquainted with the project activities and updates on the KPO's performance in the Karachaganak field, informed about the ongoing discussions of the next stage of the Karachaganak field development, and went on a short tour of one of the key production facilities, Karachaganak Processing Complex (KPC).

Karachaganak is one of the world's largest fields. Its oil reserves amount to 1.2 billion tons, while those of natural gas - 1.35 trillion cubic meters. 49 percent of Kazakhstan's gas production and 18 percent of oil production comes from this field. BG Group has 29.25 percent in the project, while Eni holds 29.25 percent, Chevron -18 percent, Lukoil -13.5 percent and Kazakhstan -10 percent.