Sources say that the daily oil production of Kazakhstan's Karachaganak fell by 24 percent in September m/m.
Two industry sources and calculations show that the production of oil in Kazakhstan's Karachaganak gas field dropped to 200,000 barrels a day (bpd), from 264 300 bpd, in August. This coincided with maintenance at Russia’s Orenburg Gas Processing Plant (GPP).
According to sources, the production of oil and condensate from Karachaganak, a light oil type, fell by 24% between September 8 and 30 as Gazprom, Russia, carried out scheduled maintenance at its Orenburg processing facility. The plant processes the raw gas from Karachaganak - one of Kazakhstan's biggest fields.
Karachaganak's oil and gas production are tightly linked. The field cannot produce much oil when its gas production drops. Karachaganak's gas is not only used to process at Orenburg but also for local power generation and for reinjection in order to maintain reservoir pressure.
Requests for comments from the Kazakhstan Ministry of Energy, Gazprom, and Karachaganak Petroleum Operating did not receive a response immediately.
Kazakhstan's official production figures are not affected by the decline in output, because some government agencies classify Karachaganak's output as gas condensate and exclude it from its OPEC+ obligations.
KazRosGaz, a joint venture between QazaqGaz, the state company, and Gazprom (which owns Orenburg's processing plant), which is owned by Gazprom, operates to provide gas from Karachaganak, for processing in the Russian plant.
A sales agreement between KPO, KazRosGaz and Orenburg is valid until 27 January 2038. Energy ministry says that the parties are in negotiations to extend their agreement.
In 2024, Kazakh authorities and Karachaganak shareholders agreed to build a gas processing plant on the Karachaganak field. The new facility will have a capacity of 4 billion cubic meters per year. It is expected to begin operations in 2028. The project was suspended for the current consortium. Now, the government is looking for new investors to bring in Kazakh companies.
The KPO consortium operates Karachaganak, which is made up of Shell (29.25%) Eni (29.25%) Chevron (18%) Lukoil (13.5%) and KazMunayGas (10)
(source: Reuters)
