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The Kashaghan field was one of the largest discoveries in the
world over the past 40 years and also the largest offshore
discovery. The field is located in the Kazakhstan sector of
the Caspian Sea and occupies an area of approximately
75x45 km. The reservoir is situated about 4,200 metres
below the seabed in the northern part of the Caspian Sea.
The development of the Kashaghan field in the harsh maritime
conditions of the northern Caspian represents a unique
combination of technological complexities and supply chain
difficulties. These complexities are related to the provision of
a safe working environment and the resolution of technical
engineering, logistical and ecological tasks, which make
Kashagan one of the largest and most complex energy projects
in the world.
The Tengiz is a giant oil field, related to the Pre-Caspian oil and
gas province of the north Caspian Sea. The oil reservoir lies at a
depth of about 4,000 metres. The Tengiz reservoir is 19 km
long, and 21 km wide, and is 1.6 km high. Total discovered
reserves in drilled and undrilled areas of the Tengiz reservoir are
estimated at around 3.1 billion tonnes or 26 billion barrels.
Another promising area from the point of view of oil and gas
potential is the Aktobe region. About 25 fields have been
identified here. The most significant geological discoveries
in this region are the Zhanazhol group of fields with extractable
reserves of oil and condensate of 170 million tonnes. In 2005
an announcement was made for a discovery in the central
block of the eastern part of the Caspian depression of the new
Umit field.
The base of the oil production industry of Kyzylorda and
Karaganda regions is the Kumkol group of fields – the fifth most
important oil and gas province of Kazakhstan. In the summer
of 2005, PetroKazakhstan, the oil company operating in this
region, announced the finding of commercial oil reserves in the
licensed territory of Kolzhan, which lies next to the northern
perimeter of the Kyzylkia field.
Key indicators
According to data provided by the Ministry of Oil and Gas
of the Republic of Kazakhstan, confirmed reserves of
hydrocarbons on shore and on the sea shelf are estimated
at 4.8 billion tonnes or over 35 billion barrels. For comparison,
in 2001 the explored balance reserves of oil were only
2.9 billion tonnes. Moreover, the forecast oil reserves in the
Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea alone may exceed
17 billion tonnes or 124 billion barrels, according to some
experts. Taking into account both the reserves of oil and
gas and constantly growing production, in the foreseeable
future, Kazakhstan will continue to be at the center of world oil
production.
According to information from the Ministry of Oil and Gas,
production of oil and gas condensate in 2012 amounted
to 79.2 million tonnes. This compares with oil production of
only 25.9 million tonnes in 1998. Kazakhstan is also one of
the top gas producers of the CIS member-states, producing
40.1 billion cubic metres in 2012.
In 2012, Kazakhstan’s oil and gas-processing plants refined
14.2 million tonnes of crude oil and produced 2.2 thousand
tonnes of LPG. Domestic consumption of natural gas last year
was 10.5 billion cubic metres.
Kazakhstan exports the bulk of its produced oil via pipelines.
In 2012 the volume of oil exported was 68.6 million tonnes, of
which 15.4 million tonnes were exporetd through the “Atyrau–
Samara” pipeline and, 27.9 million tonnes through the Caspian
Pipeline Consortium (CPC) line. A further 10.4 million tonnes
was exported to China through the “Atasu–Alashankou” line.
The value of crude oil exports amounted to the equivalent of
US$ 56.4 billion, which is 60 % of Kazakhstan’s total exports.
The volume of gas exports from Kazakhstan in 2012 were
8.8 billion cubic metres. Meanwhile, the volume of international
gas transit across the territory of the Kazakhstan last year was
96.5 billion cubic metres.
In the future, the volume of production of oil and gas
in Kazakhstan will have a tendency to a significant increase.
The increase is connected to three main factors, these are
the significant growth in capital investment, the expected
growth in demand on international markets for hydrocarbons
and the fruits of intensive exploration and development work
in the hydrocarbon basins of both the Caspian and Aral seas.
All these factors will support further growth of the resource
potential of this key economic sector.
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