Press releases
Fifth annual CTCE highlights renewed optimism in the oil and gas sector
The first day of SPE’s Annual Caspian Technical Conference and Exhibition (CTCE) in Astana featured high-profile speakers representing the key stakeholders of the Caspian oil & gas industry.
During the opening ceremony, Magzum Mirzagaliev, the Republic of Kazakhstan Vice Minister of Energy, gave an excellent informative presentation of the on-going progress in the Kazakhstani oil & gas industry, presenting impressive numbers on improvement of the oil and gas exploration and production processes across the sector as well as the potential for further increase of production through new fields such as Aktoty, Kairan, Kalamkas and Khazar. He also covered the growth of the oil and gas transportation pipelines across the country and the newly signed agreement with China on increasing of the annual gas export from 5 to 10 billion cubic metres.
The strategic importance of Kazakhstan for the world economy was mentioned by 2019 SPE President Sami Alnuaim, who also stressed the importance of improving the industry’s image and informing the general audience of the social and environmental responsibilities which it undertakes.
Speaking on behalf of the event host JSC National Company “KazMunayGas”, Kurmangazy Iskaziyev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Exploration, Production and Oilfield Services, welcomed the CTCE guests in Astana, before informing the audience on the current achievements and on-going activities of the company in the Caspian region. He stressed the company’s openness and eagerness to collaborate with the leading oil and gas companies of the world, as well as the positive experience of involving academia in field exploration. “KMG currently owns 125 fields, and 65 of them were determined as promising for production. 55 of those fields are considered operational and 18 of them have been distinguished as “key” with high potential for growth and 90% of total reserves allocation. We would like to use them for introduction of the “Intellectual oil fields” digitalisation program. The project requires investment of 28 billion tenge with the total economic effect amounting to 150 billion US Dollars.”
The important role of collaboration between industrial experts and the government in driving vital changes to the legal framework with the purpose of making the industry more competitive, as a whole, was discussed by Uzakbay Karabalin, Deputy Chairman of KAZENERGY Association. As such, of the 300 amendments proposed by the Association members to lawmakers for the recently adopted Code On Subsoil and Subsoil Use, 60% were supported, whereas for the Tax Code this amount reached 90%, which demonstrates the high level of expertise in consideration of legislative initiatives.
At the round-up of the opening ceremony, Murat Zhurebekov, General Director of PSA LLP, discussed the growing importance of rational implementation of projects and the requirement for the long-term perspective and commitment in the environment of volatile oil prices.
Over the next three days, the conference participants will get an opportunity to attend high-level topical panel sessions focusing on ‘Digitalisation’, ‘Collaboration in a Competitive Environment’ and ‘Optimising Project Execution’, 12 technical sessions involving debate and hear 50+ research-based presentations.
CTCE has the support of a broad range of key stakeholders from the Caspian energy industry, including the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, KAZENERGY, PSA, our host KMG and the largest oil and gas players in the Caspian including Exxonmobil, NCOC and Tengizchevroil.
Networking is a strong component at the event providing delegates with a chance to build new professional relationships, discover new technologies and insights into the industry, engage in debate, and share experiences.
To get more information about CTCE, please visit
On-site Media Contact
Nurlan Tokmoldin (Kazakhstan)
E-mail: ntokmoldin@gmail.com
Tel.: + 7 777 044 3788
About SPE
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit professional association whose members are engaged in energy resources development and production. SPE serves more than 158,000 members in 143 countries worldwide. SPE is a key resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through its publications, events, training courses, and online resources at www.spe.org.