Kazakhstan and China have agreed on the basic parameters of a major expansion project at the Shymkent oil refinery, which will double its processing capacity from over 6 million to 12 million tons of oil per year.
According to national oil company KazMunayGas, the Shymkent refinery became Kazakhstan’s leading facility in 2025 in terms of processing volume, handling 6.23 million tons of oil. By comparison, the Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant processed 5.76 million tons, and the Atyrau Oil Refinery 5.47 million tons. Shymkent also topped production output, delivering over 2.28 million tons of gasoline and more than 2.1 million tons of diesel fuel.
The refinery is jointly owned by KazMunayGas JSC and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The two partners plan to expand the plant’s production capacity by constructing new processing infrastructure.
A delegation from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, led by Daulet Arykbayev, Director of the Oil Transportation and Refining Department, participated in a strategic meeting in Qingdao, China, to prepare a feasibility study for the expansion. Following the meeting, both sides approved the project’s basic framework.
A central decision was the adoption of the “6+6” configuration: two processing lines, each with a 6-million-ton annual capacity, fully integrated into the refinery’s existing operations. Officials stressed the importance of meeting project deadlines, with the core feasibility work scheduled for completion by 2032 under the framework agreement.
The Ministry of Energy also noted that, under Kazakhstan’s broader refinery modernization program, the goal is to increase total national processing capacity from 18 million to 39 million tons of oil per year. Simultaneously, the government is seeking investors for the construction of a new refinery with an annual capacity of up to 10 million tons.
The Times of Central Asia previously reported on state plans to attract foreign investment for a proposed fourth major refinery. Government estimates suggest that expanding the three existing refineries to 39 million tons will require investments of $15-19 billion.
In March 2025, the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition recommended partial privatization of the Pavlodar and Atyrau plants to boost efficiency and attract private capital. However, in December, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov stated that KazMunayGas currently has no plans to privatize these assets.
