Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. October 2025
October
October 1, Aigul Barmenkulova assumed the position of Finance & Corporate Relations Manager at Shell Kazakhstan. Aigul has worked for more than 16 years in various divisions of Shell Kazakhstan and, since October 2021, has held the position of Head of Corporate Relations.
October 1 to 20, Kazakhstan’s main gasoline exporter — the Condensate refinery — was under scheduled maintenance; during this month, it shipped only 3.1 thousand tons of RON 92 gasoline of K-5 environmental class to Uzbekistan. Other plants did not receive export quotas from the Ministry of Energy. Domestic demand for motor gasoline remains high due to ongoing maintenance at the Atyrau refinery.
Maintenance at the Condensate refinery is synchronized with preventive work at Russia’s Taneko refinery, from which the Kazakhstan-based plant receives distillates for processing.
Starting October 1, the export customs duty on crude oil and light petroleum products was reduced to $68 per ton from $70 in September. The simple average of KEBCO and Brent crude prices on world markets — to which the duty is linked — was $68 per barrel over the period from August 20 to September 20.
In October, the export duty on fuel oil is $30 per ton, on vacuum gas oil (VGO) is $60 per ton, and on LPG is zero. The export duty on bitumen was $60 per ton from June 1 to September 30. From October 1 to May 31, it is 15 euros per ton.
October 2 to 4, Astana hosted the 16th KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum, “A New Energy Order: Focus on Middle Powers.” The forum brought together more than 2,700 delegates from 44 countries, including representatives of government agencies, international organizations, diplomatic missions, major oil and gas companies, and the expert and academic communities. The business program comprised 21 thematic sessions featuring 163 speakers who discussed a wide range of topics, including hydrocarbons, digitalization, renewables, ESG, and gender equality.
October 3, Total Energies, together with Qazaq Green Power (a subsidiary of Samruk-Energo) and KMG-Green, awarded a contract for the supply of wind turbines for Kazakhstan’s largest renewables project — the 1 GW Mirny wind farm in Zhambyl Region. One hundred fifty turbines will be supplied by leading renewables equipment manufacturers Envision Energy and SANY Renewable Energy Co. “Twenty-six turbines for Mirny will be part of the first batch produced at Kazakhstan’s first wind-equipment manufacturing plant — a JV with Samruk-Kazyna Invest opened on September 2, 2025,” said Robin Liu, regional managing director of SANY Renewable Energy, at the ceremony. The final investment decision on the Mirny project is expected in December, with commissioning in 2028.
One billion tons of oil have been shipped from the Sea Terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. About 85% of the oil transported via CPC is oil from Kazakh fields. More than 80% of Kazakhstan’s crude exports reach world markets through this route.
Kazakhstan has extended its oil supply agreement with Germany through the end of 2026, with monthly volumes rising to 130,000 tons. In 2024, KazMunayGas began shipping oil to the refinery in Schwedt, Germany, from KMG Kashagan volumes, totalling 1.5 mln tons, the national company reported. In 2025, exports were sourced from Tengizchevroil volumes; in 2026, Karachaganak oil will be added, and monthly shipments will increase from 100 thousand tons to 130 thousand.
KazMunayGas has resumed oil shipments through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline after a pause since August this year, when elevated organochlorine compounds were detected in the BTC stream. The October export plan for this route is about 26 thousand tons of Kashagan oil.
KazMunayGas-Aero, a subsidiary of KMG, is starting in-wing fuelling of aircraft for SkyGuard Cargo Airlines (at Aktobe and Turkistan airports) and Hungary Airlines (at Turkistan airport).
The first carrier, an Uzbek startup, began operations in 2025 with bases at Tashkent and Navoi airports (Uzbekistan) and focuses on international and regional cargo flights. The second, owned by a Hungary-based businessman of Chinese origin, is part of the Fly Meta Group international cargo holding headquartered in Hong Kong.
Gazprom and Kazakhstan signed a memorandum on implementing a project to build a new trunk gas pipeline from Russia to Kazakhstan.
A new line for gasifying the northern and north-eastern regions of Kazakhstan was included in February 2025 in the Russian Federation’s territorial planning scheme; the relevant document has been published. It specifies a design transport capacity of 10 bln m³/yr and a compressor-station capacity of 50 MW. Gas will be supplied from West Siberian fields; the pipeline will cross Tyumen Region, with the entry point into Kazakhstan located in the North Kazakhstan Region. Earlier, Gazprom and Kazakhstan concluded an agreement to increase Russian gas supplies to the country in 2025–2026.
A second signed document was an agreement on the key terms of long-term processing of Kazakh gas in Russia. It confirms arrangements to process gas from the Karachaganak field at the Orenburg gas processing plant (GPP), which will be upgraded. The signing took place against the backdrop of difficult negotiations between the Government of Kazakhstan and the Karachaganak project investors on building a GPP directly at the field.
Zhandos Orazaliyev has been appointed Deputy Managing Director of NCOC (operator of the Kashagan consortium).
He is a graduate of the Ablai Khan Kazakh University of International Relations and World Languages and holds a master’s degree from Robert Gordon University (Scotland). He has nearly 20 years of experience in Kazakhstan and abroad in corporate-strategy development, contract management, budgeting, and negotiations.
Previously, he served as Managing Director at Samruk Kazyna Ondeu and Kazakh Invest, Chief Executive Officer at Borkit OilTech and Hydratight Limited in Kazakhstan, and held leadership positions at Lloyd’s Register in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, and the UAE.
KMG Barlau LLP has started drilling the first exploration well on the Ozen Severny block in Mangystau Region. The license area adjoins the northern parts of the Uzen and Karamandybas fields operated by Ozenmunaigas.
Earlier, within the GIN framework, KMG Barlau acquired 3D seismic over 401 sq km, with processing and interpretation completed. The results delineated potential non-structural (lithological) traps in Jurassic strata. In June 2025, KazMunayGas received a subsoil-use contract for this complex project. The minimum work program under the contract includes drilling two exploration wells to depths of 2,000 m and 1,650 m.