Press releases
The SPE conference in Astana delivers two new high-profile panels of investors and operators
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.
After the Opening ceremony with welcoming speeches by the Republic of Kazakhstan (RoK) Vice Minister of Energy Magzum Mirzagaliev, 2019 SPE President Sami Alnuaim, Deputy Chairman of JSC NC ‘KazMunayGas’ Kurmangazy Iskaziyev, Deputy Chairman of KAZENERGY Association Uzakbay Karabalin and General Director of PSA LLP Murat Zhurebekov, two new high-profile panels followed featuring a number of top players in the oil & gas industry.
At the Investors panel, Pascal Breant, Total’s Country Chair in Kazakhstan and Managing Director Total E&P Kazakhstan, mentioned the global decrease in the cost of exploration and production (E&P) and the need to make local E&P assets competitive through the achievement of two main goals: increasing production and reducing costs. He suggested using the example of the world leading players in the industry and focus on introducing cultural changes to the business climate, simplifying processes and procedures, improving the supply chain and introducing a digital roadmap.
Nicolo Aggogeri, Managing Director of Agip Caspian Sea, Eni, announced the company’s commitment to help build renewable energy infrastructure in Kazakhstan and the plan to build a 50 MW capacity solar farm with the Memorandum of understanding already signed with the RoK Ministry of Energy and General Electric.
According to Balaji Krishnamurthy, Deputy Managing Director of Chevron, low oil prices were a surprise for the industry, and we still remain in a volatile price environment with a lot of structural uncertainties. Since competition exists nowadays between countries for the investors’ interest, Kazakhstan needs to create conditions for the country to be chosen for investments in all price environments. He also stressed the importance of collaboration, for example, to introduce common standards for the benefit of the whole industry.
Aidan Murphy, Commercial General Manager, Shell, mentioned that SPE and its alumni were at the heart of the oil & gas industry, and shared some of Shell’s success stories in Kazakhstan over the 25-year presence in the country. Whilst Kashagan and Karachaganak are currently two of the most important projects for Kazakhstan, the Kalamkas-Khazar field is expected to become the next big thing in the coming years for the local oil and gas sector. “Although there exist substantial challenges for the development of this field, if successful, it could become a new green-field hub attracting significant investment”, said the speaker.
Opening the Operators panel, John R. Denis, General Director, JSC NC KMG SRI, mentioned the importance of human capital which KMG is helping to grow in the country.
Further, Eimear Bonner, General Manager for Operations, Tengizchevroil, shared the company’s insights into the development of the industry and highlighted three main factors affecting oil prices: technology, local content and partnership. She stated, “Easy reservoirs have been developed. The easy job has been done. Now we have to be competitive and need to join forces to be more successful.”
Wrapping up the panel, Bruno Jardin, Managing Director, NCOC, spoke about the North Caspian (Kashagan) project milestones achieved since the restart in 2016 up to November 2018. As such, over 20 million metric tonnes of oils were exported, 5.7 billion cubic metres of gas delivered to the market and nearly 1 million tonnes of sulphur sent for export. Outside Kashagan, further opportunities for increase of production include Aktoty and Kairan shallow water fields, and Kalamkas and Khazar sea fields, whose successful development requires strong cooperation.
Over the next two days, the oil and gas industry professionals and students will get the latest updates on state-of-the-art tools, technology and techniques during the technical sessions, focusing on ‘Collaboration in a Competitive Environment’ and ‘Optimising Project Execution’.
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
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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.