MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazakhstan is aiming for a standalone deal with leading global oil producers on restraining its crude production due to a need to crank up output at its Kashagan field, reported Reuters with reference to a Kazakh official.
The Central Asian nation increased oil and gas condensate output by 9.9% in January-July to 49.907 MMt, or 1.724 MMbpd, exceeding its quota of 1.7 MMbpd under a global supply pact.
Kazakhstan has said it needs to adjust the terms of the deal as it expects to boost output later this year thanks to the giant Kashagan field.
On Thursday, Deputy Energy Minister Aset Magauov said his country needed to repay the shareholders in Kashagan, where output had been delayed for years before it was relaunched last year.
"I think that talks on Kazakhstan’s commitments will continue separately," Magauov told reporters.
"There is understanding from OPEC that the project (Kashagan) is very large, there have been huge investments and there is a need to return these investments to shareholders."
He said Kashagan, with investments of around USD55 B, was expected to produce 13 MMt next year (260,000 bpd), while other oil projects in the country could see their output reduced.
Kashagan has been developed by a consortium of China National Petroleum Corp, ExxonMobil, Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Inpex and KazMunaiGas.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia and Kazakhstan, agreed to cut output from January this year until the end of March 2018 to reduce global inventories and support oil prices.
As MRC informed before, in May 2017, Kazakhstan and UAE agreed to prepare a joint project for polyethylene production, reported the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan. The industry is going to be based on the territory of the petrochemical zone in Atyrau region, which provides special legal regime, tax, customs and other preferences.
MRC