Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. February 2024
February

February 1, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, in collaboration with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken and Kazakhtelecom, which acts as a single operator, launched a one-year pilot project for the labeling and tracking motor oils from producer to consumer.
The project covers all participants in the oil market, from manufacturers and importers to companies engaged in wholesale and retail trade.
The pilot project's idea lies in using special labeling codes to track the product's journey from the manufacturer to the end buyer. Thanks to an effective control system, it will be possible to guarantee the high quality and safety of motor oils for consumers.
February 2, Marat Eleusinov was appointed General Director of Karazhanbasmunay JSC. He graduated from Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas with an engineering degree. He began his career as a production operator at Ozenmunaigas in 2009. Over the years, he has worked at Mangistaumunaigaz and RD KMG. From 2019 to 2021, he served as deputy general director of Kazakhturkmunai JV and, since 2021, has held the position of chief technologist at Embamunaigas JSC.
The former director of Karazhanbasmunay, Nursseit Soyunov, was appointed deputy chairman of the board of KazMunayGas on January 30 and director of the KMG representative office in Aktau.
Akerke Akhmetova has been appointed the new general manager for government relations and communications at NCOC. A graduate of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Kazakhstan and the University of Sheffield, UK, under the Bolashak program, she built her professional career in the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan. In recent years, she has focused on defending the state's interests in relations with foreign investors. From 2015 to 2017, she served as director of the Department of International Law and Cooperation, from 2018 to 2019 as director of the Department for the Protection of State Property Rights, and from September 2019 to February 2023 as deputy minister of justice.
February 6, Olzhas Bektenov was appointed the 13th prime minister of Kazakhstan and relieved of his previous position as head of the administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliev retained his position in the new cabinet.
KazMunayGas deputy chairman Serikkali Brekeshev met in Budapest with Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister Levente Magyar and representatives of MOL Group.
During the meeting, the parties discussed aspects of cooperation in petrochemistry, including the development of the Rozhkovskoye field, the supply of crude oil and gas condensate, and cooperation in deep gas processing.
According to a statement from the national company, the Hungarian side expressed great interest in supplying Kazakh oil for processing at Hungarian refineries and in exporting gas condensate from the Rozhkovskoye field. The Kazakhstani delegation, in turn, presented the benefits of a possible joint petrochemical project using gas feedstock from the Rozhkovskoye field.
KazMunayGas and CNPC International Kazakhstan have established another joint venture in the oil refining and petroleum product trading market.
KC Energy Group LLP was registered with the justice authorities on December 27, 2023, with KMG holding a 49% stake in the company. The LLP is registered at the same address as Petrosun LLP, a joint venture between KMG and CNPC, where the national company also holds a 49% stake. Until August 2022, this stake was owned by entities affiliated with Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the former first president of Kazakhstan. After the government's campaign to demonopolize the economy began, he sold this stake to KazMunayGas for 1 tenge.
In February, KC Energy Group accumulated and delivered its first batch of crude oil to the Shymkent Refinery. Traders predict that volumes will increase over time, and the company could become a significant player in the market.
February 9, QazaqGaz Chairman Sanzhar Zharkeshov discussed the conditions for supplying liquefied gas from the Kashagan field to the national company with the NCOC leadership and North Caspian Project contractors.
Tatneft will produce automobile tires in Kazakhstan under the Attar brand (translated from Kazakh as "horses"). According to the Russian company's press service, the products will be manufactured by Tatneft's tire division enterprise in Saran and sold in Kazakhstan and for export.
KamaTyresKz LLP, a joint venture between Tatneft and Kazakhstan's Allur, launched a plant in Saran in the Karaganda region in December 2022. In 2024, the plant is expected to reach its full production capacity of 3.5 mln tires: 3 mln tires for passenger cars and 500,000 for trucks.
February 14, during the state visit of Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Qatar, QazaqGaz Chairman Sanzhar Zharkeshov and UCC Holding Chairman Mohammed Mutaz Al-Hayat signed cooperation agreements for the implementation of four infrastructure projects in the republic. One of the agreements involves attracting investments for the construction of a new compressor station, CS-14, and the main gas pipeline CS-14 - Kostanay.
The parties agreed to jointly implement the construction of the second line of the Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent main gas pipeline with a capacity of 15 bln cubic meters per year, which supplies gas to Kazakhstan's southern and central regions.
Two other agreements pertain to the construction of gas processing plants at Kashagan with capacities of 1 bln cubic meters per year and 2.5 bln cubic meters per year. This will allow, in addition to increasing commercial gas production, to boost oil production at Kashagan. The parties agreed to attract investments to finance the construction of the plants.
The total investment volume for the four agreements amounts to $11 bln.