Kazakhstan to decrease gas production, export
Kazakhstan is to export less gas this year as production is forecast to dip, according to a report released by the oil ministry.
Last year, the central Asian republic produced 45.3bn m3 of natural gas, about 5% more than the previous year. However, for the current year, it plans to produce only 43.5bn m3. Last year, exports reached 12.4bn m³, up 4% on 2014, and they are expected to be down to 11.6bn m3 this year.
The country’s gas demand was12.1bn m3 in 2015, or 3% less than 2014, while the amount of gas flaring rose to 0.9bn m3, or 12.5% more than the previous year.
The country also produced 2.5mn metric tons (mt) of LPG in 2015.
Kazakhstan is a major gas transit country, connecting central Asia to Russia and China. The report says that the transit capacity of the cross-country Bozoi-Shymkent pipeline, inaugurated in November 2015, reached 3bn m3/yr and it would become fully operational in 2017 after launching a gas compressor station to enable it to transit 10bn m3/yr. The pipeline transits the domestic gas to southern regions, which at the moment depend on gas imports.
The ministry also said that installing a new gas compressor on the third branch of central Asia-China pipeline, which was inaugurated last year, was on the agenda to increase the total capacity of the three lines to 55bn m3/yr.
The production of crude oil and gas condensate was 79.46mn mt in 2015, or 1.7% less than the previous year, while for 2016, the figure is expected to fall to 77mn mt. It plans to export about 60mn mt of oil in 2016, or 0.95mn mt less than 2015.
Azerbaijan desk