Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. July 2025
July
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.
China’s Sinopec International Energy began drilling the exploration well S-1 with a depth of more than 5,500 m at the Sai-Utes block in Mangistau Region.
In 2023–2024 the company carried out a large scope of field prospecting works, including 2D seismic in the amount of 1,006.74 km with a survey depth of up to 5,500 m. As a result, six traps were identified, and the prospective geological resources of the block were assessed. Additionally, the locations of two planned wells with depths exceeding 5,000 m were determined. Planned expenditures for drilling well S-1 will amount to 4.7 bln tenge.
July 4, Mukhtar Avutbayev was appointed the new General Director of Silleno LLP. He is a graduate of L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University and of Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas with a specialization in oil and gas business management. Since 2020, he has headed the Department of Investment and Development Project Management of KazMunayGas JSC, where he supervised gas chemical projects, including the Polyethylene project implemented by Silleno LLP.
The previous General Director of Silleno, Zhandos Kairgeldy, was appointed Director of the Department of Investment and Development Project Management of KazMunayGas JSC.
July 4, on the day of the 25th anniversary of the commercial discovery of the offshore Kashagan field, the project operator NCOC announced the achievement of an important production milestone, at 03:25 the first 1 bln barrels of oil had been produced since the start of production in 2016.
KazTransOil launched a new information system for customer interaction, based on the single-window principle, called Oil Transportation Management - KazTransOil. The digital platform enables the automation of service processes for oil transportation, both through KTO’s own pipeline system and through the pipelines of the joint ventures MunaiTas and Kazakhstan-China Pipeline. Shipper applications will now be processed entirely online.
Azamat Kasimov has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at KMG PetroChem, a subsidiary of KazMunayGas.
Previously, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representing Kazakhstan's interests as Consul at the Consulate General in Dubai, and spent six years in the Protocol Department of the country's President. Since April 2025, he has been a technical expert in the office of the Chairman of the Management Board of KMG PetroChem. He is fluent in English, Chinese, and Arabic. He will oversee the company’s interactions with state bodies and international partners.
July 9, on the Caspian coast, the Kendirli desalination plant, built by KazMunayGas with a design capacity of 50,000 cubic meters per day, was put into operation. Upon successful testing, the plant will move to operating mode.
The project is of strategic importance for a water-deficient region, with the launch of the plant, residents of Zhanaozen and adjacent settlements will be provided with drinking water. The facility will also reduce the load on the Astrakhan-Mangyshlak trunk water pipeline, operated by a KazMunayGas subsidiary, and will contribute to the development of the region's industrial potential.
The management of RV-Oil&Gas discussed the Chingis-Telsu field development project with the Deputy Akim of West Kazakhstan Region and with the departments of entrepreneurship and energy.
At the meeting, key aspects of the upcoming field development were discussed, including job creation, tax revenues, contributions to regional development, and the implementation of social projects in the fields of education, sports, and infrastructure.
According to forecasts, Chingis-Telsu contains 600 mln tons of oil in intersalt and subsalt deposits and 1 trln cubic meters of gas, which, if the reserves are confirmed, will make it one of the key new discoveries in Kazakhstan. The company plans to drill a well with a depth of 3 to 7 km.
Overall, under its obligations, RV-Oil&Gas must drill two wells within six years, each estimated to cost $2 mln. The contract also provides for social investments in the region.
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, established a Council for the Management of the National Fund and assumed the role of its Chairman. The new advisory and consultative body was created against the backdrop of record withdrawals of funds from the fund, in 2024, 5.6 trln tenge, with an approved guaranteed transfer to the budget of 2 bln tenge. With investment income from management of the fund’s assets for 2024 of 7 trln 70.7 bln tenge, only 2 trln 408.9 bln tenge, 34.1 percent, was earned profit, and 4 trln 663.8 bln tenge was paper income obtained as an exchange-rate gain due to the appreciation of the dollar in which the National Bank keeps the fund’s accounts.
Tatneft made a final investment decision, FID, on a project to build a butadiene plant in the Atyrau Region with a capacity of 186,000 tons per year.
The joint venture, in which the Russian company holds 75 percent and the Kazakhstani state holding Samruk-Kazyna holds 25 percent, was established in November 2021. In 2023, the state share was transferred to Tatneft's management. According to updated data, the plant is scheduled to start up in 2027 and will produce not only butadiene but also butadiene-containing products, including synthetic rubber. The licensor of the new plant is Lummus Technology.
Butadiene will be used in the production of tires, rubber goods, and plastics for the domestic market and for export. Investment in construction is estimated at more than $1 bln. Tatneft has experience and competencies in the production of synthetic rubbers in Russia, in particular through the company Tatneft-Sintez-Kauchuk. The new plant will be the company’s first petrochemical project outside the Russian Federation.
KazMunayGas signed a protocol with Hungary’s MOL on sending a test batch of oil to Hungary. The corresponding export supply agreement was signed in February 2025. The protocol provides for KMG’s obligations to supply a batch of oil for pumping in test mode from Kazakhstan to Hungary.
As stated by KMG Chairman of the Management Board Askhat Khasenov, “the volumes of supplies will depend on the commercial terms, which remain the subject of negotiations for now. We agreed on a test volume of oil supplies, but the Hungarian side will determine the timing for the start of pumping of the feedstock.”
Altai Abibullayev, former Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was appointed GR Director of KMG International. In this position, he reports directly to the company’s CEO and is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy for interacting with the government structures of Romania and Kazakhstan, in accordance with the goals and objectives of KMG International.
Altai’s professional career has been connected to diplomacy for 28 years. He served as Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Poland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. He was the Chairman of the Committee for International Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an Ambassador-at-Large.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science, as well as a master’s degree in international relations and political science, both from the University of Warsaw.
KMG International operates in Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the following areas: trading of crude oil and oil products, refining and petrochemicals, and distribution and marketing. In Romania, the KMGI Group manages the Petromidia Navodari and Vega Ploiesti refineries, and a large fuel distribution network in the Black Sea region, both through subsidiaries in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Georgia, and through partners in Turkey, Serbia, and Greece.