ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 25. Kazakhstan plans to drill about 80 oil wells in 2024, said Vice Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Askhat Khassenov, Trend reports.
"The reforms carried out in 2022 and 2023 in the field of subsoil use are having an effect. In 2024, it is planned to drill about 80 wells. Of these, we focus on deep wells. Because the era of easy oil, unfortunately, is coming to an end. Today, oil and gas deposits are very deep. Therefore, we need to drill, and this is capital-intensive," he said.
According to him, of the major projects, drilling will begin this year, in particular in the Turgai Paleozoic area (Kyzylorda, well 5,500 meters deep).
"An exploration well will be drilled offshore at the Abay structure (KazMunayGas-Eni) in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. Issues are being considered for drilling deep wells in the Karaton Podsolevoy area (KazMunayGas-Tatneft, depth 5,500 meters), Aday block (Ocean Petroleum, depth 6,900 meters), Maksat structure (Firm Almex Plus, depth 6,200 meters), Say-Utes area (SINOPEC, depth 5,250 meters), and block A (5A Oil, depth 6900 meters)," he said.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan produced 90 million tons of oil in 2023, which is 6.9 percent higher than in 2022. Oil exports also increased and amounted to 70.5 million tons, which is 9.6 percent more than the previous year.
Moreover, Kazakhstan plans to increase oil production in 2024 to 90.3 million tons.