Pressure from rising indigenous demand along with a refinery capacity shortage has caused Kazakhstan to extend a ban on light hydrocarbons distillates, UPI.com reported.
The move follows a similar action by Russia earlier this year. Kazakh Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev announced the move, telling journalists: "We are hoping to extend the ban. We have to agree it with our partners in the Customs Union," Interfax-Kazakhstan reported Tuesday.
In response to a reporter's question about the possible time period for the ban Mynbayev replied the government's action would depend on the market situation, while a familiar with the discussions speaking off the record told Interfax-Kazakhstan that the ban would be extended to the end of 2011.
The government's action extends a policy first instituted in April, when Kazakhstan extended the ban on petrochemicals exports until July 1 to preserve supplies for the domestic market begun in November 2010.
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