PETROLEUM. Analytical journal. New projects, fields’ development, production, processing and transportation of oil and gas, presentation of the companies, statistics on the production of hydrocarbons, monitoring of investment legislation.

Oil Chronicles. April 2026

April

Subsidiaries of China's Sinopec have been selected as EPC contractors for the Butadiene project in the Atyrau region. GPEC (Guangzhou Engineering) won the EPC contract for the butane separation, isobutane dehydrogenation, and butadiene extraction units, and for general plant infrastructure. SNEC (Ningbo Engineering) won the contract for the synthetic rubber units (SBS) and the solution-polymerised styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR) units.

Oil Chronicles. February 2026

Tatneft has withdrawn from the butadiene rubber plant project in the Atyrau Region. The Russian company held a 75% participating interest in Butadiene LLP, the project operator, and the remaining 25% had been transferred to it under trust management by the state entity Samruk-Kazyna Ondeu. As of February 1, 99.999% of the participating interest in the LLP is held by Samruk-Kazyna Ondeu.

Oil Chronicles. December 2025

December 2025

Starting December 1, the export customs duty on crude oil in Kazakhstan decreased by another 3% from $66 to $64 per ton, versus November. In October, it was $68 per ton (down 3% from September), and in September, it fell 4% versus August. The reductions are moving in step with declines in KEBCO and Brent prices on global markets

Oil Chronicles. August 2025

As of August 1, the wholesale ceiling price for liquefied petroleum gas has been set at 59,722 tenge per ton (excluding VAT), representing a 15% increase from the previous rate. Retail prices will rise by 7–10 tenge per litre (9–13%), depending on the region.

The new wholesale price will remain in effect from August 1 through December 31, 2025. The Ministry of Energy expects domestic LPG consumption in Kazakhstan to reach 2.6 mln tons this year, up from 2.4 mln tons the previous year. The government abolished state regulation of wholesale and retail prices for gasoline and diesel, effective February 1, 2025, while maintaining price control over liquefied gas.

Oil Chronicles. May 2025

May 1, following a meeting in Abu Dhabi between Askhat Khassenov, CEO of KazMunayGas, and Mohamed Al Shamsi, General Director of AD Ports Group, it was announced that AD Ports had made the investment decision to build two modern container vessels. The vessel design was developed jointly by KazMunayGas and AD Ports, and its capacity will be a record for the Caspian Sea at up to 780 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit).

Oil Chronicles. July 2025

July 1, Ardak Kassymbek, the son of Makhmud Kassymbekov, who headed the office of the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigned from the Board of Directors of KazTransOil JSC. He was first elected a member of the Board of Directors in October 2012, following a decision by the company’s sole shareholder, KazMunayGas JSC. At that time, Ardak worked as Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of KazMunayGas for Economics and Finance. For just under 13 years, Ardak Kassymbek represented the interests of KazMunayGas on the KazTransOil Board of Directors.

Oil Chronicles. April 2025

April Former Chairman of the Management Board of KazMunayGas, Alik Aidarbayev, has been appointed Deputy Director for Offshore Projects at Lukoil Kazakhstan Upstream. In partnership with KazMunayGas, the Russian company Lukoil is beginning development of the offshore fields Kalamkas-Sea, Khazar, and Auezov in the Kazakhstani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Oil Chronicles. February 2025

February 2025. February 1, Farhat Abytov stepped down as Executive Director for the Oil and Gas Industry at the KazEnergy Association following his appointment as Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of National Geological Service JSC.