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Kazakhstan to switch to its own gasoline, diesel fuel from 2019

30 January 2019 18:08 (UTC+04:00)
Kazakhstan to switch to its own gasoline, diesel fuel from 2019

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Kazakhstan will be provided with its own gasoline and diesel fuel from this year, said Deputy Prime Minister Yerbolat Dossayev.

Speaking at an expanded meeting of the Kazakh Government, Dossayev said that the fuel and energy complex remains the main driver of economic growth and 2018 was a record for key indicators of this sector.

Deputy Prime Minister declared that more than 90 million tons of oil and more than 55 billion cubic meters of gas were extracted. He added that the modernization of all three refineries has been completed.

”At the end of last year, the average retail prices for basic petroleum products did not increase. Starting this year, domestic demand for gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and bitumen will be met,” he said.

Yerbolat Dossayev also informed that the growth of the gross domestic product of Kazakhstan amounted to 4.1 percent by the end of 2018, and 70 percent of this growth was achieved due to non-primary sectors.

He considers the growth of the manufacturing industry was achieved by increasing the production of engineering, oil refining, chemical industry and non-ferrous metallurgy.

“Labor productivity in the economy as a whole grew by 2.9 percent. Inflation fell to 5.3 percent. The unemployment rate is at a safe level and amounted to 4.9 percent for the year. Investments in fixed assets increased by 17 percent, while private investments increased by 22.5 percent,” Dossayev concluded.

Earlier, Kazakhstan has produced a new type of diesel fuel that will withstand severe frosts.

A new type of fuel was produced at the end of November and was named Khazar-32 by a vote of the plant’s employees. Its maximum filterability temperature is 32.

By its qualities, it corresponds to the environmental class K5, that is, it has a minimum sulfur content, and therefore less harmful to the environment.

A new product was produced at a deep oil refining complex built as part of the refinery modernization project.

This is Kazakhstan’s largest complex of technological installations, which produces motor fuel corresponding to classes K4 and K5, and allows to increase the volume of oil refining at the Atyrau refinery to 5.5 million tons.

The cost of fuel in Kazakhstan, according to the Ministry of Energy, is significantly lower than in neighboring countries. Thus, the retail price of gasoline brand AI-92 in Kazakhstan amounted to 154.8 tenge per liter ($0.4).

Kanat Bozumbayev said in November 2018, that the volume of gasoline reserves in Kazakhstan is almost 352,000 tons. He also added that the need for fuel in the Republic of Kazakhstan is completely closed.

Kazakhstan, as a result of modernization of oil refineries, has increased the production of gasoline, which exceeds the needs of the republic and creates a surplus of fuel.

Kazakhstan has three major oil refineries - Atyrau, Shymkent and Pavlodar.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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