Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Kazakhstan plans to produce 83 million tons of oil, 41 billion cubic meters of gas, as well as to process 14.7 million tons of oil in 2014, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said on January 20.

Informing Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev about oil and gas production results in 2013, Karabalin said the oil production in the country increased in 2013.

In particular, Kazakhstan produced 81.8 million tons of oil in 2013, which is 3.2 percent more than in 2012.

The gas production amounted to 42.3 billion cubic meters in 2013, he noted.

Karabalin also said Kazakhstan processed 14.3 million tons of oil.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) predicts Kazakhstan's oil production to increase by 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.73 million bpd in 2014.

On a quarterly basis in 2014, OPEC forecasts Kazakhstan's oil production at 1.69 million bpd, 1.68 million bpd, 1.73 million bpd and 1.81 million bpd respectively.

Kazakhstan's Tengiz field expansion is expected to boost crude production to around 800,000 bpd by 2019 from just less than 550,000 bpd last year.

Kazakhstan, one of the five Central Asian countries, is rich with hydrocarbon reserves. The country's production comes mainly from five onshore fields - Tengiz, Karachaganak, Aktobe, Mangistau, and Uzen - and two offshore fields - Kashagan and Kurmangazy, both located in the Caspian Sea.

The recoverable oil reserves of Kashagan field are estimated at 11 billion barrels, whereas total geological raw material reserves stand at 35 billion barrels. Besides, natural gas reserves are estimated at over 1 trillion cubic meters.

The Tengiz oil field 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 are 1.35 trillion cubic meters.