The Kazakhstan government is set to reap almost five times the combined starting price of the five blocks offered in its latest internet auction for oil and gas assets, with strong competition from local players offering a total of 911 million tenge ($1.9 million).
Kazakhstan has announced a plan to find new operators for five oil and gas fields and six exploration blocks in the Aktyubinsk, Mangistau, West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions, in an online auction on 20 October.
Kazakhstan has resumed oil flows through its key Caspian Pipeline export route to international markets as the west of the country endured a third day of blackouts.
Kazakhstan has struck a number of deals this month to expand co-operation with China in the oil and gas industry, as Astana seeks closer ties with Beijing while reducing its reliance on Moscow. Kazakh national welfare fund Samruk-Kazyna and China’s state-owned oil company CNPC reached agreements in Astana on June 6 on jointly developing Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry, the former reported.
Astana is upbeat about boosting oil exports, despite caveats over how the war in Ukraine may impact markets and questions about its recently launched shipments to Europe.
Official documents seen by JOY NEWS show that the vessel alleged to have shipped 600,000 barrels of Russian crude oil to Ghana had its port of loading in Kazakhstan.
According to Robert Säverin, spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany sees significant potential in cooperation with Kazakhstan in the area of green energy, Azernews reports.
On December 29, 2022, Kazakhstani state-owned oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz announced plans to export oil to Germany starting in January 2023. Arrangements were made to export a total of 1.2 million tons of oil through the Druzhba pipeline via Russia and Ukraine (Informburo.kz, December 29, 2022).
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium said that export disruptions could last more than one month.