Kazakhstan, Russia hold negotiations on fuel supply
By Aynur Jafarova
The Kazakh government holds negotiations with Russia on regulating fuel oil supplies to the border regions of Kazakhstan.
The news was announced by Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin, Trend Agency reported.
"We and our Russian colleagues agree on this fact that a certain amount of oil should be supplied to the borderland. It is cheaper to bring them from Russia rather than to transport it from Kazakh oil refineries, which are located at a distance of 2,000 kilometers from each other. And, it is also cheaper to bring Kazakh oil to some Russian regions," he said.
Karabalin believes signing of a treaty on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) allows two sides to resolve these issues.
"With the creation of common market of oil and oil products within the EEU, such a notion as targeted imports of fuels and lubricants will disappear over time," he added.
Kazakhstan imports about 30 percent of petroleum products from neighboring Russia, as the capacity of three Kazakh oil refineries is not sufficient to meet the needs of the country's growing economy.
Kazakhstan has some oil refineries, which are located in Shymkent (country's southern part), Atyrau (western part) and Pavlodar (northern part).
The country is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of oil reserves that allow producing oil for at least another 50 years. There are also significant prospects of finding new reserves.
It's largest hydrocarbon fields are Kashagan, Tengiz and Karachaganak.
However, Kazakhstan is constantly importing a certain amount of high-octane gasoline from Russia as the local plants "are not yet capable of ensuring domestic demand for these grades of gasoline". The volume of imports from Russia annually reaches 800,000-900,000 tons of gasoline.