Astana, 22 October. KazMunayGas and China's CNPC have decided to draw up design documents to expand the Kenkiyak–Atyrau oil pipeline to 15m tonnes a year and the Kenkiyak–Kumkol line to 20m tonnes, KMG's press service said.
The pipelines are to supply the Shymkent refinery after its expansion from 6m to 12m tonnes; the decision was taken at a meeting between KMG chief executive Askhat Khassenov and CNPC president Zhou Xinhuai.
The company calls the expansion of the Shymkent refinery from 6m to 12m tonnes in 2030 strategic for energy security, as domestic fuel consumption keeps growing. The feasibility study is nearly complete and procedures are under way to move on to front-end engineering design (FEED) and design and estimate documents; according to KMG, Khassenov stressed the need to complete every stage on time.
The two sides also discussed the Urikhtau gas field in Aktobe region. In the first phase output is due to reach 200m cubic metres of raw gas a year by the end of this year, the second phase will be completed at the end of 2027, and at full capacity the field will yield up to 1bn cubic metres a year. The gas will be processed at the Zhanazhol complex of CNPC-Aktobemunaigas; reserves of the gas condensate part of Central Urikhtau are 29bn cubic metres. For Kazgermunai and PetroKazakhstan Kumkol Resources, whose mature fields in Kyzylorda region are being depleted, it was decided to step up exploration; supplies of up to 100m cubic metres of raw gas a year from PetroKazakhstan fields to Kazgermunai's facilities are also being considered.
The same day the 4th Kazakhstan–CNPC technical seminar on geology and field development opened in Astana. Kazgermunai said that in 2021–2026 it drilled seven appraisal wells at Akshabulak, Aksai and Nuraly, six of which yielded oil, adding more than 1m tonnes of recoverable reserves. Deputy Energy Minister Yerlan Akbarov recalled that over almost 30 years of cooperation with CNPC more than 350m tonnes of oil had been produced at the Aktobemunaigas, PetroKazakhstan and Mangistaumunaigas assets, and proposed a joint plan for introducing technologies in 2027–2030, with specific fields, pilot sites, deadlines and performance indicators. Among the technologies named were polymer flooding at Kalamkas and spot water flooding based on the experience of China's Daqing field; these are ways to enhance oil recovery, that is, to extract more oil from the reservoir.
What it means: KMG and CNPC have moved from talking to designing: the pipelines that will feed the doubled Shymkent refinery are to be expanded, and a plan with pilot sites for 2027–2030 is being prepared on production technologies.
Who benefits: The domestic fuel market: a bigger refinery in the south means more locally refined petrol and diesel fuel. KMG and CNPC get higher utilisation of joint assets, and the Kyzylorda fields a chance to extend production through new exploration.
Background: According to the deputy energy minister, Kazakhstan's cooperation with CNPC in oil and gas has lasted almost 30 years; he named replenishing the resource base, including study of the Caspian depression and the South Turgai basin, as the main direction of further work.
List of sources used: KMG, Energy Ministry of Kazakhstan
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
