Kazakhstan, Astana, June 3/ Trend, A. Maratov /
Kazakh oil company KazMunaiGas Exploration Production (KMG EP) expects commercial oil flow to be available at the fields in the Aktobe region, KMG EP chief geologist Bazar Eskoja said in an interview with Trend.
"This year we will start exploratory drilling at the Tuskum field in the Aktobe region, where commercial oil flow is expected from sediments below salt-bearing strata," Eskoja said.
He said geological exploration for KMG in Kazakhstan is the main direction ensuring the main growth resources. The 2011 budget of geological exploration will hit $117 million.
"Geological exploratory work is widely conducted today," Eskoja said.
He said the company is now engaged in geological exploration at the Rozhkovskoe field in western Kazakhstan.
"We are completing the appraisal drilling of three exploration wells, with the drilling of three more wells expected in the future," he said.
As Eskoja said, "subsalt sediments are the reserve that will give maximum growth to the company's resources."
"At the same time, we do not abandon suprasalt sediments, for which there is also potential. In this regard we are working in the Caspian Sea where oil deposits are available at shallow depths from 1,000 to 1,500 meters," Eskoja said.
According to KMG EP, at present the portfolio of geological exploration projects of the KMG consists of three projects: Liman, R-9 and Taisoigan. The company analyzes the geological data, drills exploration wells and conducts a two-dimensional and three-dimensional prospecting seismology at these sites.
Expenditures on geological exploration activities amounted to $33 million in 2010.
KMG EP is among the top three Kazakh oil and gas producers. The overall production in 2010 was 13.3 million tons (an average of 270kbopd) of crude oil, including the Company's share in Kazgermunai, CCEL, PKI and NBK. The total volume of proved and probable reserves was 232 million tons (1.7bn bbl), as it was at the end of 2010. This includes shares in the associates (about 2.2 bln barrels).
The Company's shares are listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the GDRs are listed on The London Stock Exchange. The Company raised more than US $2 billion in its IPO in September 2006. The International rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) confirmed KMG EP's "BB+" corporate credit rating in July 2010 and "GAMMA-6" rating in November 2010.