Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. October 2024
October

October 1, the demobilization of a drilling rig at the Abay block in the Kazakhstani sector of the Caspian Sea was completed. The Abay-1 exploration well, drilled to a depth of 2,500 meters, did not reveal commercial oil reserves.
The KazMunayGas and Eni joint venture, Isatay Operating Company (50/50), is developing the Abay block under a 31-year hydrocarbon exploration and production contract dated July 26, 2019. The contract is divided into a 6-year exploration phase (with a possible 9-year extension for appraisal and pilot production) and a 25-year production phase.
The KazakhstanCaspianShelf consortium conducted geological and geophysical studies of the block as part of seismic surveys from 1995 to 1996. In 2004, KazakhstanCaspianShelf JSC reprocessed and reinterpreted the seismic data.
October 1, the Atyrau Refinery began scheduled maintenance, lasting 30 days. The temporary halt in production by a refinery that meets about one-third of domestic fuel demand could lead to a fuel shortage in the country. To prevent this, the government has built up reserves of petroleum products: 27 days’ supply of diesel fuel, 27 days’ supply of AI-92 gasoline, and 22 days’ supply of AI-95 gasoline. Additionally, the Ministry of Energy has withheld export quotas for October from the Condensate refinery in the West Kazakhstan region and decided to purchase about 50,000 tons of AI-92 gasoline from Russia through KazMunayGas.
At a meeting of security service heads from major oil and gas companies in Western Kazakhstan, a decision was made to establish a training center for security personnel in the energy sector.
Representatives from KazMunayGas, KMG Kashagan, Tengizchevroil, NCOC, Lukoil, KPO, and CPC attended the meeting in Atyrau. Participants exchanged experiences on responding to industrial accidents, evacuating personnel, ensuring anti-terrorist security at protected facilities, and emergency response.
A CPC’s corporate security department representative presented a report on current threats to oil transportation infrastructure in Russia and Kazakhstan and protection methods. CPC has long operated a security training center in Elista, Kalmykia, and participants agreed to establish a similar center in Kazakhstan.
October 7, NCOC announced the commencement of scheduled maintenance on the offshore and onshore facilities of the Kashagan field.
“Maintenance is being carried out to ensure the integrity and safety of the production system and includes a range of works and projects to improve system reliability. The planned maintenance is expected to last one month,” the company stated.
Kazakhstan plans to use the one-month Kashagan downtime to offset its overproduction of oil under the OPEC+ agreement, which has accumulated since the beginning of the year.
Bakhtiyar Zkriya has been appointed Director of the Ministry of Energy's Subsoil Use Department. He previously served as Deputy Director of the same department. Born in 1987 in Karaganda, Zkriya graduated from KazGUU University. He has been working in the Ministry of Energy’s Subsoil Use Department since 2018 and previously headed the Hydrocarbon Geology Division of the Geology Committee.
Yerlan Sisenov has been appointed head of KazMunayGas's press service. He previously served as press secretary and official representative of the KazEnergy Association.
Sisenov, born in 1987 in Almaty, graduated from Satpayev Kazakh National Technical University with a bachelor's degree in Printing Technology. He has worked at the state television and radio companies Kazakhstan and Astana TV. From February 2022 to February 2024, he was the press secretary of the Ministry of Economy. Sisenov received the Nur Sunqar Party Award in the Voice of Society category.