Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. December 2025
December 2025
Starting December 1, the export customs duty on crude oil in Kazakhstan decreased by another 3% from $66 to $64 per ton, versus November. In October, it was $68 per ton (down 3% from September), and in September, it fell 4% versus August. The reductions are moving in step with declines in KEBCO and Brent prices on global markets.
The December export duty was $30 per ton for fuel oil and $60 per ton for vacuum gas oil (VGO). The rate for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was zero. The duty on bitumen during the “low-demand period” from October 1 to May 31 is 15 euros.
It became known that after U.S. sanctions on LUKOIL, the Kalamkas-Sea/Khazar project was put on pause. Seconded staff from KMG Engineering who were developing the detailed engineering will be withdrawn from the project effective January 1, 2026. Some current employees of Kalamkas-Khazar Operating LLP will be temporarily transferred to a KMG subsidiary from the same date until an agreement is reached with a new project partner.
Earlier, a final investment decision (FID) exceeding $6.5 bln had been expected in December 2025, but the U.S. sanctions on LUKOIL changed that. The project is promising: previously, recoverable hydrocarbon reserves of 81 mln tons were stated on the offshore block, and later additional potential oil structures were identified.
Construction of an alkylate plant began in the Pavlodar Region. The project is being implemented by Kazakhstan’s Intertrans C.A., which plans to produce about 100 thsd tons of alkylate, a high-octane gasoline component for Euro-5 grades (RON 95/98). More than 35 bln tenge will be invested, with a launch planned for 2027.
Kazakhstan’s refineries currently use octane boosters such as N-methylaniline and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). Their use has limitations because they are toxic, contribute to NOx emissions, increase corrosion, and accelerate engine wear.
December 3, Georgia’s Ministry of Finance investigative service detained three citizens of Kazakhstan suspected of duty-free sale of 10 thsd tons of crude oil from the Batumi Oil Terminal, owned by KazTransOil JSC.
Business Media wrote: “The investigation established that officials of Batumi Oil Terminal LLC, bypassing customs procedures, secretly sold more than 10,000 tons of tax-exempt crude oil stored in the terminal’s tanks worth more than 15 mln lari (≈ $5.5 mln). To conceal the illegal sale of high-quality petroleum products, the accused placed unusable waste into customs tanks to hide the actual volume.”
December 4, Batumi Oil Terminal LLC stated that all terminal employees were at their workplaces. General Director Farkhat Tashibayev held a production meeting that day at the office. The terminal is operating within Georgian law. The rights and lawful interests of the terminal and its employees are fully ensured. Given the legal requirements to preserve the secrecy of the investigation, the terminal refrains from additional comment.
Almaty’s Medeu District Court seized assets related to the lubricants plant in Shymkent, whose ultimate owner is the family of former Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Kairat Kozhamzharov. The seizure was imposed at the suit of Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan to recover debt totalling about 2.6 bln tenge.
TotalEnergies, Samruk-Energy JSC, and KazMunayGas, as partners in the Aktas Energy JV, completed the selection of the energy storage system supplier and EPC contractor for the Mirny wind farm in Zhambyl Region.
The EPC contract was awarded to a consortium of Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd. (China), Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd. (China), and GCD Partner LLP (Kazakhstan).
The contract to supply, connect, and commission the battery energy storage system was awarded to Saft (a TotalEnergies subsidiary). The project will implement Kazakhstan’s first grid-scale storage system with an installed capacity of 300 MW (600 MWh).
About 50 thsd tons of crude produced at Kashagan in December for CNPC (30 thsd tons) and Inpex (20 thsd tons) will be exported via the Atasu–Alashankou pipeline rather than sent to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system, Reuters reported.
This rerouting is necessary because loadings at the CPC Marine Terminal are proceeding through one single-point mooring (SPM). An unmanned surface vehicle attack damaged a second SPM, and a third SPM is under scheduled maintenance.
December 9, CPC General Director Nikolay Gorban met in Astana with KazMunayGas Chairman Askhat Kassenov.
"The head of the consortium informed the KMG leader that CPC personnel and contractors are currently replacing hoses on the single-point mooring SPM CPC-3 at the Marine Terminal," the Consortium said.
Meanwhile, part of Kazakhstan’s exports is being redirected to other routes, including BTC, the Ust-Luga port, and the Atasu–Alashankou pipeline. The SPM-2 destroyed by a maritime drone strike will be replaced with a new unit now being completed at shipyards in the UAE.
December 9, a cooperation agreement was signed between Ust-Kamenogorsk Valve Plant JSC and Caspian Pipeline Consortium-K JSC. Under the agreement, the enterprise from East Kazakhstan undertook obligations to supply the CPC pipeline system with high-technology components and equipment of Kazakhstan origin, perform maintenance, modernization, and testing of equipment, and jointly develop and implement innovative technological solutions.
Akbar Tulegenov was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of QazaqGaz, and Abzal Kismetov headed the production line.