Sanzhar Zharkeshov, Chairman of the Management Board of the National Company “Qazaqgaz,” told the media that Kazakhstan is poised to become one of the top ten gas-producing countries in the world. This optimistic outlook was shared during the first forum of subsoil users held in Astana. New mechanisms will be implemented to attract investors to tap into the country's vast gas resources.
Kazakhstan has over a dozen gas fields, but the high development cost has been a roadblock. To combat this, a groundbreaking gas reform has been initiated to incentivize subsoil users to invest in exploration.
According to Askhat Hasenov, Deputy Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan, investing in exploration and drilling to develop gas deposits is crucial. This investment is significant as these deposits were previously inefficiently developed.
The exploration and drilling stages require considerable capital expenditure and typically have only a 20-25% success rate, meaning that only two out of ten wells may contain blue fuel. However, experts estimate that gas resources in Kazakhstan can reach about 60 trillion cubic meters.
The national operator will also purchase additional gas volumes from subsoil users at the new price. In addition, these users have agreed to increase their blue fuel production under special agreements.
Sanzhar Zharkeshov has shared that a goal is to increase gas production from all subsoil users by 2030, with a target of around 9bn cubic meters.
This is not limited to QazaqGaz, but the entire resource roadmap and exploration portfolio aims to achieve 1 trillion cubic meters of gas',
he said.
Geological exploration takes time, typically around 7-10 or even 15 years. Therefore, this potential will be realized in stages',
Zharkeshov added.
Additionally, the country is focused on increasing gas production and processing.
QazaqGaz has recently restored the gas processing plant at Kashagan, with plans to build another one to process four billion cubic meters of gas each year.
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