Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Kazakhstan will continue oil exploration in the Kazakh part of the shelf of the Caspian Sea in 2015, the country’s Energy Ministry told Trend Agency.

“In 2015 exploration in the Kalamkas-sea, Aktoty, Kairan and South-western Kashagan fields will be continued,” the ministry noted.

The largest field developed in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea is Kashagan. Besides Kashagan, in accordance with production sharing agreement, the contract territory of drilling works includes the Kalamkas, Aktoty and Kairan structures.

The reserves of the Aktoty field are estimated at 100 million tons, Kairan field-56 million tons and the South-western Kashagan field-6 million tons.

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.

Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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