Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Kazakhstan has seen an increase in oil and natural gas production in January-July 2015, the country's Statistics Committee under the National Economy Ministry reported.

The production of oil, including gas condensate, increased by 0.7 percent to reach 47 million tons in the reported period.

The committee also said that the production of gasoline decreased by 2.8 percent to 1.6 million tons, and diesel fuel by 2.7 percent to 2.7 million tons in the first seven months of 2015.

In the reported period, the country's electricity production reduced by 2.3 percent to 52.8 billion kilowatt/hours.

Energy-rich Kazakhstan produces oil mainly from its largest fields – Karachaganak and Tengiz.

The Karachaganak field's oil and gas reserves amount to 1.2 billion tons while its natural gas reserves are estimated at 1.35 trillion cubic meters.

About 49 percent of Kazakhstan's gas production and 18 percent of its produced oil are extracted from this field.

The Tengiz field in the west of the country is also one of the deepest and largest oil fields in the world. Total estimated reserves amount to three billion tons (26 billion barrels).

Another large oil and gas field – Kashagan – is located in the north of the Caspian Sea. Oil production at Kashagan started in September 2013, but its operation was suspended when a gas leak appeared along its pipeline.

Kazakhstan produced 80.845 million tons of oil in 2014, including gas condensate, which is 1.2 percent less than in 2013.

Earlier OPEC reported that it predicts a decrease in Kazakhstan’s oil supply of about 10,000 barrels per day, putting the country's average at about 1.62 million bpd in 2015.

“On a quarterly basis in 2015, output will average 1.66 million bpd, 1.60 million bpd, 1.59 million bpd, and 1.62 million bpd, respectively,” the report said.

Average oil production in Kazakhstan in the first half of 2015 was 1.63 million bpd, indicating a growth of 20,000 bpd over the same period in 2014, OPEC noted.

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

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