Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Kazakhstan plans to increase oil production up to 83 million tons in 2014, excluding the oil to be produced from the Kashagan field, Managing Director of Samruk-Kazyna JSC Malik Salimgereyev said on December 25.

Speaking at a briefing in Astana, Salimgereyev said the oil production in Kazakhstan is expected to amount to 82 million tons in 2013.

Salimgereyev also noted the production of oil and gas condensate in Kazakhstan in 2012 amounted to 79.2 million tons.

OPEC predicts Kazakhstan's oil production to increase by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) and reach 1.7 million bpd in 2014.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in turn forecasts Kazakhstan's oil production to up by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) up to 1.65 million bpd in 2014.

According to BP, Kazakhstan's proven oil reserves stood at 30 billion barrels as of early 2013. The Central Asian state's oil production amounted to 1.728 million barrels per day in 2012, which is 1.6 percent below 2011.

Kazakhstan's largest hydrocarbon fields are Kashagan, Tengiz and Karachaganak.

Recoverable oil reserves of Kashagan field are estimated at 11 billion barrels, whereas total geological raw material reserves stand at 35 billion barrels. It is believed to be the largest oil field in the world after Prudo Bay in Alaska. Besides, natural gas reserves are estimated at over 1 trillion cubic meters.

The Tengiz oil field was discovered in 1979 and is one of the deepest and largest oil fields in the world. Reserves of the deposit are estimated at 750 million to 1.1 billion tons (6-9 billion barrels) of recoverable oil.

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.