Kazakhstan, Astana, January 15 / Trend , K.Konirova /
In 2010, Kazakhstan expects to increase oil and gas condensate production up to 80 million tons, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sauat Minbayev said in Astana on Jan. 15.
"We expect increasing the oil and gas condensate production up to 80 million tons in 2010 which is 4.6 percent higher than 2009. At the same time, exports will increase by eight percent," said Minbayev.
According to the minister, such volumes are fully provided with transport facilities. He remembered that additional opportunities for the export of oil appeared with the launch of the Kazakhstan - China pipeline in late last year.
Practical implementation of the project of expanding the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) will begin in January this year, said the energy minister.
"On Dec. 15-16 last year, at a meeting of the Board of Directors of CPC-Russia and the general assembly of CPC-Kazakhstan, it was unanimously decided to expand the project, and the practical implementation of the project will begin in January this year with the planned commissioning in 2013," the minister said.
Regarding Yeskene-Kuryk pipeline, then, according to Minbayev, work continues on the project under a memorandum signed between KazMunayGas and the French company. "But questions still remain on this project," he said.
Sauat Minbayev also said that the KazMunayGas and SOCAR signed an agreement to jointly develop a feasibility study for the Trans-Caspian project.
"The feasibility study will be financed on parity terms, but questions also remain here. Therefore, 2010 for KMG, as chief negotiator for all these projects, was important and critical," the minister said.