Baku, Azerbaijan, July 31
By Ilkin Shafiyev – Trend:
Kazakhstan and China are considering signing an agreement to cooperate in the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev told Trend July 30.
"The project of LNG plant construction is provided within the framework of the agreement on the construction of plant for liquefaction of natural gas signed on May 30, 2013 between the governments of Kazakhstan and China. Chinese, "Xinjiang Ji Munai Guanghui LNG development" LLC has assumed the obligation for the design and construction of the plant on the territory of Kazakhstan under the terms of the agreement. The parties consider the possibility of signing an agreement on cooperation on the construction of a plant for the production of liquefied natural gas," the minister said.
The Kazakh media reported earlier that, the deregulation of wholesale prices for liquefied gas is being planned in the country.
It was noted that, the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev said at the plenary session of the Senate of the Parliament of the country, that all the reasons that contribute to the underhanded export of liquefied gas, which is caused by low prices of LNG in the country, will be eliminated.
Thus, the maximum wholesale price of liquefied gas has been set according to the law "on gas and gas supply", which is now 38,701 tenge per ton (excluding VAT).
It is lower than not only export prices, but also wholesale prices of the border countries, which stimulates the illegal export of liquefied gas.
The draft law "on amendments and additions to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on gas and gas supply" was considered at the meeting in the first reading.
The innovations developed by the parliamentarians provide for the gradual deregulation of wholesale prices for liquefied gas through the consolidation of a new mechanism for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market by means of electronic trading platforms (ETP).
It is proposed to introduce for this purpose in addition to direct distribution, an additional mechanism for the mandatory supply of gas by producers to the domestic market through the ETP beginning from January 1, 2019, which will not be subject to the maximum price approved by the Ministry of Energy. It is proposed to sell at the first stage through ETP 20 percent of total volume of the liquefied natural gas with subsequent gradual increase of the sold volume by 2021.
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