Chairman of the Board of JSC NC QazaqGaz Sanzhar Zharkeshov spoke about unprecedented reforms in the Kazakh gas industry as part of his speech at a meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In his report to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Olzhas Bektenov, the head of QazaqGaz, noted that in recent years, the country has seen growth in the gas industry's potential. In particular, the gas resource base is being actively developed, which, in turn, helps solve the shortage of commercial gas. During 2022-2023, QazaqGaz stably supplied residents and the country's economy with gas, eliminating more than 3,000 critical defects in the gas transportation system.
"Every year, QazaqGaz subsidizes gas prices for the domestic market by 200 billion tenge. At the same time, active measures are being taken to make the domestic gas industry more profitable," Sanzhar Zharkeshov noted in his speech. He also added that, as part of a socially fair pricing reform, gradual liberalization is being introduced without any effect on socially vulnerable segments of the population, and an incentive price formula for purchasing new volumes of gas from subsoil users has been approved.
The work done is already producing tangible results. With the support of the Government, the Ministry of Energy, and the Samruk-Kazyna Foundation, important agreements on gas transit and export were reached. In particular, a new export contract for 2023-2026 was signed. with CNPC/PetroChina. Investors are also interested in carrying out joint geological exploration work.
"A lot of work has been done to improve the investment attractiveness of the industry. There are specific investors," said Sanzhar Zharkeshov.
Among the projects being implemented, the Chairman of the national company highlighted the following:
• An agreement on geological exploration at the Zhalibek site in the Aktobe region was signed with Chevron on terms of 100% carry financing.
• An intergovernmental agreement was signed on implementing joint projects with the State of Qatar with a total value of $11 billion. These are projects for constructing the 2nd line of the Beineu-Bozoy-Shymkent gas pipeline, the gas processing plant at the Kashagan Cape, and the Aktobe-Kostanay gas pipeline.
• A plan is to build a urea plant worth $1.35 billion with the participation of a foreign investor.
• The implementation of a project to construct a liquefied gas terminal (LPG) from Kashagan has begun. This project aims to reduce the domestic market deficit from 2025 to 2026.
Also in 2023, QazaqGaz implemented projects worth 400 billion tenge from its budget, including:
• Gasification of the Sarsha area and the "Warm Beach" resort area;
• Construction of the looping of the Makat-North Caucasus gas pipeline;
• The second line of the Beineu-Zhanaozen gas pipeline in the Mangistau region;
• Construction of gas infrastructure for Almaty thermal power plants.
"We believe that the gas industry will become one of the largest drivers of the Kazakh economy. It is necessary to implement specific measures further to realize its potential and solve systemic problems," concluded the Chairman of the Board of NC QazaqGaz JSC.
