Kazakh Gas Output Soars, Uzbek Flat
Kazakhstan produced 22.9bn m³ of dry gas last year, 7.1% more than in the year before, the economy ministry’s statistics committee announced. Associated gas production rose 19.9%, reaching 30.045bn m³ last year. Both figures are gross production, not sales gas.
The sharp rise in associated gas production was due to the re-start of the giant offshore Kashaghan sour oil field in October 2016, which contains 1 trillion m³ gas. Karachaganak had 49% of the gross gas output, Tengiz had 31% and Kashagan had 14%.
Kazakhstan never releases the amount of sales gas production, but BP estimated it at 19.9bn m³ in 2016. According to the recent 2017 BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the ministry’s gross gas figures suggest that a lot is used in oil field reinjection. Kazakhstan also flared 2.67bn m³ in 2016 according to World Bank data.
Over the past year, the volume of gas condensate production also rose 10.5% to 13.269mn metric tons. The figure for crude oil also experienced an 11.2% growth to 72.932mn mt.
Kanat Bozumbayev, Kazakhstan's energy minister also told journalists yesterday that 47.38% of the country now has access to gas, and this year 16 projects will be implemented bringing the level above 48%.
Kazakhstan recently signed an agreement to increase gas export to China to 5bn m³/yr, compared with less than 0.5bn m³ exported in 2016.
It also exported 12.7bn m3 gas to Russia in 2016. Recently, Gazprom said that gas purchases from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would increase to 20bn m³/yr in 2017 and 2018, but did not split out the volumes by source; however Uzbekistan exported 4.3bn m³ to Russia in 2016.
In the other direction, China imported 38.7bn m³ from central Asia, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2017, Xinhua reported early January, or 13% more than in 2016.
Uzbekistan’s gas production remains unchanged
The state statistics committee of Uzbekistan reported last week that its sale gas production increased by 0.5% to 56.417bn m³ in 2017. According to BP, the figure for 2016 was 62.8bn m³, but Uzbekistan’s own statistics, published in last year also show about 56bn m³ sale gas production for 2016. State-run Uzbekneftegaz announced recently that gas production in Uzbekistan in 2018 is expected to grow 17% to 66bn m³.