Kazakhstan, CNPC mulling projects to boost oil and gas supply to China
ASTANA. June 7 (Interfax) - Kazakh National Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will consider projects to increase oil and gas transportation through the Kazakhstan-China pipeline, Samruk-Kazyna said in a press release.
Samruk-Kazyna CEO Nurlan Zhakupov and CNPC President Hou Qijun held a meeting in Astana on Tuesday to discuss the current status of cooperation and the expansion of the throughput capacity of the Kazakhstan-China-Kenkiyak-Atyrau pipeline in reverse mode by 6 million tonnes year and the Kenkiyak-Kumkol pipeline by 5 million tonnes per year. The sides agreed to conduct preliminary studies on these projects.
Zhakupov and Hou Qijun also discussed increasing the production capacity of the Shymkent refinery, which is owned by national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) and CNPC on a parity basis, by 6 million tonnes per year.
Kazakhstan and China will also review the resource base, the market and the business model, according to the press release.
They agreed that CNPC will participate in the construction of a second pipe along the Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent gas pipeline, which is part of the Kazakhstan-China system. To this end, a joint working group will be created including QazaqGaz, a feasibility study will be completed and sources of financing will be found by December 31 of this year.
A working group will also be set up to build a gas processing plant at Kashagan with a capacity of 4 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
It was reported earlier that KazMunayGas and CNPC were negotiating the possibility of expanding the Kenkiyak-Atyrau and Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipelines. The throughput capacity of the Kenkiyak-Atyrau oil pipeline can be expanded from 6 million tonnes per year to 12 million tonnes, and the Kenkiyak-Kumkol from 10 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes annually.
The Kenkiyak-Atyrau pipeline pumped 4.5 million tonnes of oil in 2022, and the Kenkiyak-Kumkol pipeline transported 8.1 million tonnes of oil, according to KMG.
KMG CEO Magzum Mirzagaliyev said earlier that the expansion of the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline would cost about $200 million and should be completed in two or three years. The project could increase Kazakh oil exports to 20 million tonnes from today's 1-2 million tonnes.
The Beineu-Bozoi-Tashkent gas pipeline links west Kazakhstan, where large oil and gas fields are located, with the southern regions of the republic, as well as with the gas pipelines Bukhara-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty, Gazli-Shymkent and Line C of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline.
The throughput capacity of the Beineu-Bozoi-Tashkent pipeline is 13 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In future, its capacity will be increased to 15 billion cubic meters per year, which will enable exports of natural gas to China from the Urikhtau and Zhanazhol fields in Kazakhstan.
QazaqGaz, formerly KazTransGas, is the national gas operator in Kazakhstan, including gas exploration, production, transportation and distribution. QazaqGaz operates gas pipelines totaling about 76,000 km in length, including 20,000 km of large pipelines with a yearly throughput capacity of 267.8 billion cubic meters of gas, and 56,000 km of gas distribution networks.