ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 4. Regular power supply failures in Kazakhstan are taking a toll on the operational efficiency and achievement of production targets in the country, KazMunayGas told Trend.
This was stated during a video meeting held by Chairman of Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (KMG) national oil company, Magzum Mirzagaliyev, with the leaders of KMG's subsidiaries. Earlier, the KMG chairman visited the Atyrau Oil Refinery in order to get acquainted with restoration work, which is taking place due to the forced shutdown at MAEK LLP.
At the meeting, the directors of KMG's subsidiaries expressed concerns about the regular power supply failures in Kazakhstan.
For instance, Nurdaulet Kilibay, CEO of Ozenmunaigas JSC, revealed that their oil fields had experienced 11 such power outages within the past six months alone. As a consequence, a staggering 13,000 wells were affected, resulting in preliminary estimated financial losses of around 5 billion Kazakh tenge ($11.2 million).
Furthermore, it was revealed that over the past 2.5 years, across the entire perimeter of KMG's oil and gas assets, there has been a total deficit of approximately 279,000 tons of oil due to recurrent power outages. The consolidated financial loss, considering the expenses for restoration work, exceeds 60 billion Kazakh tenge ($134.7 million).
Highlighting the magnitude of the issue, it was emphasized that in 2023 alone, there were 153 instances of power outages at KMG's oil fields, which led to a significant shortfall of 75,000 tons in oil production.