Presentation
Energy Week in Kazakhstan: Large-Scale Plans, Impressive Figures
The 7th KazEnergy Eurasian Forum
Early October has been traditionally passed in Kazakhstan under the sign of energy. “World in Transition: Shaping Sustainable Energy Future” was the key topic of the 7th KazEnergy Eurasian Forum held on 2-3 October 2012 in Astana.
High-ranking delegates made the first far-reaching statements as early as the first minutes of the Forum. In his welcoming remarks, RK Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov declared that Kazakhstan would continue diversifying transportation routes. “Even with global economic uncertainties, the global energy demand will be growing. We plan to continue fostering the diversification of energy transportation routes and final markets,” the Prime Minister reported.
Serik Akhmetov accentuated the importance of bringing new investment in Kazakhstan to maximise the country’s manufacturing capacities. “The Government never stops to perfect the investment climate and support mutually beneficial partnerships with the private sector. We strive to diversify energy projects and bring investment not only in extraction of raw materials but also in advanced processing,” the Prime Minister said.
In his speech, Serik Akhmetov also mentioned development of renewable sources of energy. “We recognise what potential renewables have and as such the Government will support several relevant large-scale advanced projects. Those will primarily include solar energy development and wind energy application. Kazakhstanis investing a lot in human resources development, infrastructure and technology with an understanding that climate changes constitute a growing threat globally. Kazakhstan’s Law On Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency is designed to reduce the industries’ energy intensity by 10% by 2015 and 25% by the end of this decade,” he summarised.
Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev advanced the oil transportation discussion. He envisages that Kazakhstan oil will be exported via the existing major pipelines. By 2012, 29 million tons of Kazakhstan oil will be transported via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system. “The CPC Expansion Project is underway and that will allow us to transport 52 million tons of Kazakhstan oil annually. The Project has three phases and Phase 3 is expected to be completed by 2015. The project is being implemented on schedule,” said Sauat Mynbayev. The Government has a plan to expand the Kazakhstan-China section to 20 million tons.
The Atyrau-Samara pipeline will remain to be a key route – it will transport 15 million tons of oil this year. The Minister also made an overview of oil transportation by sea. It is expected that eight million tons will be shipped off at the Aktau Sea Port. After that, some volumes will be transported to the Black Sea via Makhachkala and the rest of the volumes via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The benefits of this route for Kazakhstan are free capacities and economics. The Minister of Oil and Gas also spoke of railway transportation which was expected to transport seven million tons of oil.
While some analysts predict the next economic crisis, another key speaker of the 7th KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum – ex-Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar – is quite optimistic about it. He expects no economic recession in Europe and USA. He envisages rapid development in China, India and Brazil, which cumulatively make up 70% of the global economic growth. Jose Maria Aznar describes the current time as “a critical period for strengthening the shared values – peace, stability, democracy and high living standards”.
As part of the Forum, KAZENERGY members had presented their most successful social projects. Those were TengizChevroil, Lukoil Overseas Services B.V., North Caspian Operating Company B.V., Pavlodar Refinery, KazAtomProm, Total E&P Kazakhstan and other companies. The Forum traditionally featured the Ar Namys Annual National Contest for the best corporate social responsibility project in the oil and gas and energy industries of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
TengizChevroil was awarded in the Sustainable Social Position nomination; Lukoil’s social partnership programme was the most successful one in the Best Social Innovation Project nomination. North Caspian Operating Company won the Environmental Protection nomination. Pavlodar Refinery won the Ar Namys Contest in the Human Resources Training and Development nomination.
The second day was opened with reports and presentations made by our closest Asian neighbours – Indonesia, India and China. The delegates were discussing in detail the global energy and environment strategy and Kazakhstan’s initiative called The Green Bridge. As is known, it was Astana that had launched the Green Bridge Partnership Programme as Kazakhstan’s input in global sustainable development. The Green Bridge Initiative presented by Nursultan Nazarbayev is supported by many countries globally. The Programme is being implemented to use green practices and technology in economy and the private sector is strongly encouraged to be directly involved in these efforts.