Astana, Kazakhstan, Dec.30
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Kazakhstan is far ahead of Russia in cooperation with China in the field of enhanced oil recovery in old fields, Russian expert on oil and gas projects of Central Asia Igor Ivakhnenko said.
"Agreement on enhanced oil recovery in the fields in the south of Kazakhstan between KazMunaiGas and CNPC is similar to the agreement between the Russian and Western companies to cooperate in increasing the productivity of mature fields," Ivakhnenko told Trend via e-mail.
For KazMunaiGas national company, the "portfolio" of which has old deposits, which passed their peak period of "flowing" long ago, the issue of enhanced oil recovery for Kazakh producers is paramount.
However, in his opinion, Astana in this case has a great advantage over Moscow.
"Russian companies have actually lost European and US partners in the sector of introduction of enhanced oil recovery methods due to the Western sanctions, and the business itself is minimized," said the Russian expert. "Such a problem can not arise in Kazakhstan, because China is the enemy of any sanctions, and for this reason, CNPC is an absolutely reliable partner."
He said that the Russian oil companies expand cooperation with Chinese companies to replace foreign investors, and assessing their partnership achievements, one can say that Kazakhstan is far ahead of Russia in this area.
"Perhaps, the creation of threefold oil and gas projects on the territory of the allied countries would be an effective measure for the development of the Eurasian energy partnership as an alternative to the previous investment and political priority of the West," he said.
Russian expert also commented on another equally important agreement, signed between Kazakh national atomic company Kazatomprom and the Chinese General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.
"The new agreement provides for the creation of joint ventures to produce nuclear fuel - fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants in China and third countries, as well as for the development of uranium resources on the territory of Kazakhstan," said the press service of Samruk-Kazyna, which includes Kazatomprom.
Igor Ivakhnenko said that cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in the uranium sector, on the one hand, is a powerful stimulus for the development of nuclear energy of Kazakhstan, and on the other hand, it strengthens the nuclear conglomeration of Eurasian countries, which now create a new Eastern Bloc through the development of the Eurasian Economic Union, SCO, and other regional organizations.
"Competition at the corporations' level, for example, Russian and Chinese ones in Kazakhstan, is still beneficial to Eastern Bloc, as companies promote integration processes in the Union economic space, which rapidly expands today," said the source.
It was previously reported that in mid-December of 2014, in Astana, the two sides signed a number of important agreements in the energy, oil and gas sector and transport on the results of the Kazakh - China Business Council.
In particular, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas signed an agreement to expand technical cooperation in the oil and gas industry.
The document suggests that KazMunaiGas and CNPC will enhance technical cooperation in the oil and gas industry, and the increase of oil recovery of fields of the South Turgai basin (South Kumkol) was expected.
Kazakh-Chinese Business Council (KCBC) was established at the request of the leaders of the two countries, which was given during the visit of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to China in April 2013.
The purpose of the KCBC is to further encourage trade and economic cooperation, promotion and development of cooperation in various sectors of the economy. Constituent meeting of the Council was held September 7, 2013.
edited by CN