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The Discussion Platforms of the Kazakhstan’s Oil and Gas Industry
The current state and prospects of development of the country’s oil and gas sector have been discussed at two traditional Forums held in this autumn in Astana and Almaty.
Opening of KIOGE Exhibition
On October 4-5, the VI Eurasian KAZENERGY Forum was held in the capital of Kazakhstan under the motto: «Kazakhstan: 20 Years of Sustainable Growth, New Horizons for Investments and Cooperation». With welcoming speeches to the Forum participants addressed Karim Massimov, Prime Minister of the RK, Timur Kulibayev, chairman of KAZENERGY Association and chairman of the board of JSC Samruk-Kazyna NWF, and Gunther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Energy. The first section devoted to the energy geopolitics of Eurasia was moderated by Mr. Kulibayev, with Larry King, the CNN legend and presenter of «Larry King Live» (1985-2010), being as co-moderator.
Speakers of the Forum discussed such themes as the international energy scenarios, forecasts of development of the resource base of hydrocarbons, strategic priorities of the oil and gas sector. A special interest caused a report by the President of the World Petroleum Council Randall Gossen in which he touched upon an issue of increasing the volume of oil production by 2030 by the countries – non-OPEC members. The Minister of Oil and Gas of the RE^ Sauat Mynbayev gave attention to the implementation of large projects in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian shelf.
On October 4, as part of the Forum, an exclusive high-level conference-launch was held by Financial Times organized together with KAZENERGY Association. Discussions brought together the leading investors and experts in energy. With a welcoming speech acted the Prime Minister Karim Massimov. Addressing to the discussion participants, the head of the Kazakhstan government has stressed that in due time the government made a proper decision by opening the borders for new ideas, businesses and partners. «I can promise that we will continue to do everything to provide opportunities for new investments and new partnership,» stressed the Prime Minister.
Moderator of the Forum’s 1st day was a legendary Larry King
The parties discussed the possibilities of modernization of the Kazakhstan’s energy sector, a role of foreign investments and the republic’s growing significance. Sylvia Pfeifer, the Financial Times Energy Editor, who acted as a main moderator at the conference-launch, paid attention on the evolution of the Kazakhstan’s investment policy under preservation of attractiveness for the national and foreign market participants. Chris Finlayson, executive vice-president, Europe and Central Asia at BG Group, also expressed his opinion on this theme. He said that the main change in Kazakhstan occurred in early years when the authorities worked towards the development of the extractive industry and other spheres of the economy, and for this purpose, opened the doors for investors. The country’s leadership, according to Chris Finlayson, places special emphasis on modernization, development, and improvement of the people’s welfare.