Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. October 2022
October
October 1, repair and maintenance work began at the Atyrau Refinery. A phased repair of technological facilities is planned, so the plant will not stop completely. During the repair, in October-November, it is intended to process 692 thous. tons of oil, at 11,347 tons per day, an average of 68% of the plant's design capacity. The refinery's transition to a stable regime is also planned to be carried out in stages until the second decade of November 2022. Previously, it was scheduled to start repair work in September. However, to stabilize the fuel market, the repair was postponed to October 1.
QazaqGaz has received an invitation from the Government of Turkmenistan to participate in a tender for the development of one of the world's largest oil and gas condensate fields – Galkynysh. "This year, we received an invitation to master the III stage of development and participate in the preliminary qualification selection of an international tender for the design and construction of turnkey underground and aboveground facilities of the field," the KazService telegram channel reports regarding QazaqGaz.
Galkynysh gas reserves are estimated at 26.2 tln cubic meters, and this is the second largest field in the world by reserves. It is at the I and II stages of construction, carried out by companies from China, the UAE, and the Republic of Korea. The current production is 20 bln cubic meters per year. Its gas supplies are planned to be pumped via the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.
October 4, the management of Samruk-Kazyna met with a delegation of the Russian Tatneft, headed by CEO Nail Maganov. From the Kazakhstani side, the meeting was also attended by the heads of KazMunayGas and QazaqGaz. The parties discussed the current status of the implementation of the Karaton-Sarkamys and Butadiene projects. Positive dynamics of joint work was noted. Work continues on the study of the North Katpar field. Tatneft's proposals for the Atyrau Refinery's modernization and several new gas industry projects were considered.
October 5, Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov took part in the ministerial meeting of the OPEC+ member countries in Vienna. The meeting discussed the countries' fulfillment of obligations in August. It was decided to extend it until December 31, 2023.
The participating countries agreed to reduce oil production by two mln barrels per day from the level of August 2022, starting from November. The baseline level approved at the 19th meeting of OPEC+ countries was also accepted.
It was decided to hold a meeting of the monitoring committee every two months and ministerial meetings every six months. The overproduction compensation period was extended until March 31, 2023. Kazakhstan's obligations for November amount to 1.710 mln barrels per day.
Litacko, LUKOIL's trading division, which also has a branch in Kazakhstan, has moved part of its operations from Switzerland to Dubai. According to Reuters, the company has already transferred at least 15 people, including those engaged in freight and distillate trade, to the Emirates, where only the company's representative office previously functioned. Agency sources called it inevitable due to the constant introduction of new sanctions against the Russian Federation, including in the oil industry.
October 10, Yerlan Mukay assumed the position of Deputy Managing Director of NCOC. He has more than 13 years of experience in senior and managerial positions in oil and gas companies and government organizations. He graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University as a Candidate in Physical and Mathematical Sciences and has an EMBA Degree from the Rotterdam School of Management of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands).
Before his appointment to NCOC, he held senior positions in the Ministry of Finance, Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V. (Kashagan Field Development Phase II project), KazMunayGas, and QazaqGaz.
October 12, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov held a meeting on the integrated development of the gas industry. First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar, First Vice Minister of Energy Murat Zhurebekov, and Chairman of the Board of QazaqGaz Sanzhar Zharkeshov attended it.