Astana, 28 October. KazMunayGas, its subsidiary KazMunayGas-Aero and Exolum Aviation – the aviation division of the Spanish group Exolum, which since 2025 has run the fuel infrastructure of Paris Charles de Gaulle airport – have signed a tripartite agreement on the main terms of strategic cooperation in developing Kazakhstan's aviation fuel infrastructure, KMG said.
The agreement was signed in Astana after a meeting between KMG's chairman of the management board Askhat Khassenov and Exolum's senior vice president for aviation Ivan Muiño. The parties are considering building aircraft refuelling complexes and specialised aviation fuel storage facilities at the country's airports and modernising existing ones; the new and upgraded infrastructure will be designed for fuel of the international Jet A-1 standard. Exolum brings experience and technology, while KMG contributes its knowledge of the Kazakh market, its links with industry players and the preparation of future projects. For Exolum, Kazakhstan will be the first step into the Eurasian region.
"Cooperation with one of the major international companies in the industry will help accelerate technological renewal, introduce best practices in managing fuel infrastructure and create conditions for further growth of international air traffic through Kazakhstan. For KMG as a national company, the transfer of Exolum's experience and technologies to Kazakh specialists, the development of local staff's professional skills and the introduction of modern approaches to operating fuel facilities are of particular importance," Khassenov said. The next step is a comprehensive economic analysis, after which the parties will determine specific projects, the volume of investment, the division of obligations and the stages of work.
Exolum is one of the world's largest independent operators of oil products logistics. The group has more than 6,000 km of pipelines, storage for 11 million cubic metres, 50 airport fuel facilities and 10 hydrant systems at airports (underground networks that deliver fuel straight to aircraft stands); it operates in ten countries. Its aviation division serves about 170 million passengers a year at 48 airports. Since 4 June 2025 Exolum has run the storage facilities and fuel network of Paris Charles de Gaulle – the European Union's largest airport, with more than 70 million passengers a year – under a 20-year concession from Aéroports de Paris: tanks holding 82,000 cubic metres and a hydrant network more than 81 km long, in whose modernisation the company is investing over €200 million. The group also serves the fuel terminals of Lisbon, Madeira and Dublin airports, is building a new storage facility and hydrant system at Lima airport, and in Spain manages 35 airport fuel facilities.
The company's history begins in 1927 with the Spanish state monopoly CAMPSA; after the market was liberalised in the 1990s it became Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH), and in 2015 it bought the GPSS state pipeline and storage system from the UK Ministry of Defence. Since 2021 the group has been called Exolum; it employs more than 2,000 people. Exolum's Spanish business alone earned €386 million in net profit in 2025 on EBITDA of €604.2 million.
KazMunayGas-Aero is the operator of KMG's aviation fuel business. In 2024 the company sold more than 282,000 tonnes of oil products, including over 206,300 tonnes of jet fuel, and delivered almost 48,600 tonnes "into-wing" – straight into the tanks of aircraft on the stand – about 38,000 tonnes of it at Astana airport. At Almaty airport KMG-Aero refuels aircraft of Turkish Airlines, AZAL, Thai AirAsia X, FlyOne Armenia and cargo carriers. The company is building a refuelling complex at Aktobe airport, where for the first time at a Kazakh regional airport aircraft will be able to take Jet A-1 fuel, is preparing the Astana jet fuel hub depot and, together with the US company KBR and KazFoodProducts, the country's first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.
What it means: KMG is bringing to Kazakh airports an operator that runs the fuel system of the EU's largest airport: Exolum's experience and KMG-Aero's network together should speed up the country's move to Jet A-1 aviation fuel and the growth of transit flights.
Who benefits: Airlines – refuelling to the international Jet A-1 standard at more Kazakh airports. Kazakh specialists at KMG-Aero – the transfer of technology and operating experience that KMG particularly emphasises. The country's transit potential: according to KMG, Kazakhstan maintains some of the lowest jet fuel prices in Central Asia.
Background: After modernisation, KMG's refineries – Atyrau, Pavlodar and Shymkent – are ready to produce Jet A-1 aviation fuel to the international ASTM standard; the switch to it from the Soviet TS-1 standard is proceeding as airports' fuel infrastructure is upgraded. KMG builds and modernises this infrastructure through KazMunayGas-Aero.
