Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 5
Trend:
The Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan is considering the possibility of increasing the share of exported oil from 20 percent to 50 percent, the official portal of the governorate of Kyzylorda region said in a statement.
At the meeting with subsoil users of the region, which was attended by mayor of Kyzylorda region Krymbek Kusherbayev, the issues of increasing the share of oil exports, the gas production and the development of new fields were discussed.
Krymbek Kusherbayev noted that 80 percent of the oil produced in the region is sold in the domestic market, where the price per barrel is $30, while the export price is $70.
Taking into account the discussed issues, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan was charged to consider within a month together with the governorate of Kyzylorda region the possibility of ensuring the enhancement of ratio of oil exports by the oil companies of Kyzylorda region to the level not less than 50 percent.
In addition, as the governor noted, the volume of oil production will be reduced by 600,000 tons this year compared to last year and will amount to 6.2 million tons.
Also, the governor of the region noted that according to the data resulting from preliminary geological exploration activities, there is a prospect of increasing gas reserves by 50-70 billion cubic meters.
"In these conditions, the expansion of gas production is one of the points of "growth" and compensation for the fall in oil production in the region. However, the existing scheme of gas sales to one national operator at a low price does not cover even the cost of production," the governor said.
Meanwhile, the subsoil users of the region continue to pump gas into the reservoir or burn it at gas turbine plants, that is, they reduce the volume of gas production in every way.
"The economic motivation for the production of gas is necessary. In this regard, according to our proposal, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan together with "KazMunaiGas" JSC and "KazTransGas" JSC have been instructed to consider within a month the possibility of making some changes in the principles of distribution of finished gas products, namely, to allow the gas producing companies participating in the project to sell 50 percent of commercial gas to the external market independently, and to oblige them to sell 50 percent of commercial gas to the national operator based on the on existing conditions," the governor said.
According to the Governor's office, measures to increase the share of oil exports and establish a favorable price for gas will allow oil and gas companies to increase revenue. In turn, the collected proceeds should be directed to the exploration and drilling of new fields and the introduction of new technologies.
Thus, the promising areas of search for new deposits are the Aral, Syrdarya and Shu-Sarysu basins.