Oil Chronicles
Oil Chronicles. June 2026
June
June 4, Gazprom signed an agreement with the Republic of Kazakhstan on additional gas supplies in 2026. "The parties gave a high assessment to the strategic partnership in the gas sphere. In particular, they noted Gazprom's significant contribution to ensuring reliable gas supplies to the republic and to strengthening the energy security of Central Asia," Gazprom said in a statement. The volume of the additional supplies has not been made public.
The Chairman of the Management Board of Asia Gas Pipeline LLP, Yerseiit Kaiypov, has been appointed General Director of the Kazgermunai joint venture. He was born in 1988. He graduated from the China University of Petroleum with a degree in oil and gas field production and development, as well as in international economics and trade. In 2012, he received a master's degree in oil and gas engineering from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland). In 2016, he graduated from Bolashak University with a law degree.
He has worked at PetroKazakhstan Kumkol Resources and the Kazgermunai joint venture, as Deputy Director of the Geology and Development Department at KazPetrol Group LLP, and as General Director of Kul-Bas LLP.
JV Kazgermunai LLP is a subsidiary of KazMunayGas. The company is engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of hydrocarbons at fields in the Kyzylorda region.
The Government of Kazakhstan is changing the rules for calculating the export customs duty (ECD) on crude. The average world price of Brent and KEBCO grades in the previous month is retained as the target indicator. Depending on that price, three duty scales are introduced.
If the price of crude is below USD 25 per barrel, no ECD is payable. At a price of between USD 25 and USD 105, the base formula applies, under which the ECD rate per ton is effectively equal to the cost of a barrel of crude. At a price above USD 105 per barrel, a progressive scale applies. Thus, at a price in the range of USD 105 to USD 115 per barrel, the duty will be USD 115 per ton. At a price above USD 185, the rate will be USD 236 per ton.
To stimulate the development of offshore fields, special conditions are provided for them. From 2027 to 2031, a zero rate will apply to them if world prices remain below USD 95 per barrel. Companies operating under PSAs concluded before January 1, 2009, and that have undergone the mandatory tax review are also exempt from paying the ECD. For the "complex projects" category, tax holidays are provided for 10 years (onshore) and 20 years (offshore).
A subsidiary of QazaqGaz, QazaqGaz Processing LLP, has been appointed operator of the project to build a gas processing plant at Karachaganak. Until April 2026, the LLP was called Tegis Munai and was transferred to the QazaqGaz Group's assets in January 2023 from Samruk-Energy JSC. Earlier, in 2017, Tegis Munai featured in the privatisation plan covering 12 large Samruk-Kazyna assets, but the sale did not take place. It was also reported that Tegis Munai holds the licence for the Pridorozhnoye gas field in the Suzak district of the Turkestan region.
The General Director of QazaqGaz Processing LLP is Nurlybek Yegizbayev, who worked on TCO and NCOC projects and as Managing Director for Construction at KPI Inc. In recent years, he headed the technical group of the Authorised Body, PSA LLP, for the Dunga PSA.
June 5, a keel-laying ceremony was held at the Baku Shipyard for the first specialised container ship with a capacity of 780 TEU, being built to the order of the joint venture between Kazmortransflot (a KMG subsidiary) and Abu Dhabi Ports.
In all, two modern vessels intended for carrying container cargo across the Caspian are to be built by the end of 2027. This will increase Kazakhstan’s capacity to transport container cargo, improve the efficiency of maritime shipping, and strengthen the country’s position on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (the Middle Corridor).
June 8, hydraulic tests were successfully carried out at the AtyrauNefteMash production site on the ethylene fractionator column manufactured for the polyethylene plant with a capacity of 1.25 mln tons per year now under construction in the Atyrau region. The column, 7.5 m in diameter, is one of the largest and heaviest items of process equipment ever produced by a domestic engineering enterprise. The equipment is 101 metres high and weighs around 1.5 thsd. tons.
June 8, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, the National Geological Service, and Shell Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of cooperation to study and analyze hydrocarbon data. The partnership focuses on the exchange of advanced international experience and the digitalisation of archived geological information on hydrocarbons. The practical core of the memorandum will be the launch of a pilot project to develop a modern geographic information system (GIS). This digital platform will enable in-depth processing and interpretation of accumulated historical geological data.