Kazakhstan reduces oil production
By Aynur Jafarova
Kazakhstan reduced its oil production in 2014, First Deputy
Energy Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said at a briefing in Astana last
week.
“In comparison with last year, when we registered a high record,
this year we reduced our production by over one percent standing at
98.7 percent,” he noted.
The reduction is mainly due to a planned repair of equipment at the
Tengizchevroil LLP oil production company.
“Tengizchevroil annually conducts scheduled repairs on its
equipment, stopping its work for 25-30 days,” Karabalin said,
adding that this year, along with the traditional repairs, the
company planned to conduct additional repairs at the crude gas
pumping plant.
“Thus, instead of 30 days, this year it was planned to conduct the
repairs for a total of 75 days – one repair work was carried out in
early summer, and the second one was successfully completed in
October,” he added.
Karabalin said such delays along with reduction in oil production
affects the general figures of oil production in the country.
Kazakhstan, one of the five Central Asian countries, is rich with
hydrocarbon reserves.
Kazakhstan’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). Tengiz and Karachaganak produce about 50 percent of Kazakhstan’s total production.
The recoverable oil reserves of Kashagan field are estimated at
11 billion barrels, whereas the 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 oil fields. Its oil
reserves amount to 1.2 billion tons. Meanwhile, those of natural
gas are 1.35 trillion cubic meters.
The oil production in Kazakhstan amounted to 81.7 million tons in 2013 which is 3.2 percent more than 2012. In 2013, Kazakhstan produced 81.731 million metric tons of oil, including gas condensate.