Industry news archive

On Wednesday, February 1, 2023, under the leadership of the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar, a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held, where the head of the Department Bolat Akchulakov summed up the work for 2022 and defined tasks for 2023.

The Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bolat Akchulakov elaborated on the work carried out within the framework of 8 main areas of activity aimed at ensuring the socio-economic stability of the country.

The main indicators of the oil industry were announced. The volume of oil production by the end of 2022 amounted to 84.2 million tons. Oil exports amounted to 64.3 million tons. In 2023, it is planned to ensure oil production at the level of 90.5 million tons, and oil exports at the level of 71 million tons.

According to the head of the department, in order to increase the resource base of hydrocarbon raw materials, legislative changes have been adopted to improve investment attractiveness and improve procedures in the field of subsoil use.

In 2022, the production of petroleum products amounted to 13.7 million tons, which is 1 million tons more than last year.

«As part of the fulfillment of the task set by the Head of State to meet the growing demand of the economy for high-quality fuels and lubricants, this year we will start developing a feasibility study to expand the Shymkent refinery with an increase in production from 6 to 9 million tons per year with the prospect of increasing to 12 million tons per year,» the head of the Ministry of Energy said.

Bitumen production by the end of 2022 amounted to 930 thousand tons. The plan for 2023 is 1.1 million tons.

According to the Minister of Energy, by the end of 2022, the volume of gas production amounted to 53.2 billion m3. In 2023, it is planned to produce 55 billion m3 of associated petroleum gas, of which 28 billion will be produced.m3 of commercial gas.

A comprehensive plan for the development of the gas industry until 2026 has been adopted, which provides for measures to increase the gas resource base, reform the gas market and curb prices for socially vulnerable categories of citizens.

In 2023, it is planned to adopt a law on the reengineering of the processes of regulation of liquefied petroleum gas, in order to ensure transparency of the turnover of liquefied gas.

In general, by the end of 2022, the country's gasification level was 59%.

In 2023, it is planned to increase the share of gasification of the population to 60% with the implementation of 86 projects for a total amount of budget investments of 74 billion tenge.

«By the end of 2022, electricity generation amounted to 112.8 billion. kWh, the plan for 2023 is 114.9 billion. kWh. The volume of renewable energy production amounted to 5.1 billion. kWh, the share of renewable energy reached 4.5%. In 2022, 12 renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 385 MW were implemented. In 2023, it is planned to launch 15 renewable energy projects with a capacity of 276 MW,» said the head of the Ministry of Energy B. Akchulakov.

According to the instruction of the Head of State, an audit of all thermal power plants and electric networks of the country will be completed in the 1st quarter of 2023.

A new program «Tariff in exchange for investment» is being developed to encourage market participants to invest in the reconstruction and modernization of capacities. The volume of investments in the industry under the Program is estimated at about 400 billion tenge annually.

The Law «On Heat Power Engineering» will be adopted in 2023. The law is aimed at solving the problems of heat supply to the regions, will allow implementing long-term plans and systematizing the relationship between central and local executive bodies.

According to B. Akchulakov, the volume of uranium production by the end of 2022 amounted to 21.3 thousand tons.

As the head of the Ministry of Energy noted, one of the important issues is to increase the conversion of extracted products, so in December 2022, the first batch of fuel assemblies was delivered to China, which are designed for the operation of nuclear power plants.

As part of the construction of a nuclear power plant in 2022, a «shortlist» of proven reactor technologies from suppliers from countries such as China (CNNC), Russia (Rosatom), Korea (KHNP), France (EDF) has been compiled. This year, work will be carried out on the selection of reactor technology.

The Zhambyl district of the Almaty region is recommended as the optimal location area for the NPP. In 2023, the issue of choosing the location of the NPP will be put up for public discussion.