The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan says it has reached a preliminary agreement on the supply of liquefied petroleum gas produced at the Kashagan field to the domestic market of Kazakhstan. The agreement was reached with the shareholders of the Kashagan field, the ministry said on January 16th.
Kashagan is a giant offshore oil and natural gas field in the north Caspian Sea, discovered in 2000, near the city of Atyrau. The field is run by the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) which includes Eni (16.81% stake), Shell (16.81%), TotalEnergies (16.81%), ExxonMobil (16.81%), KazMunayGas (16.88%), Inpex (7.56%), and the China National Petroleum Corporation (8.33%).
According to the preliminary agreement, the national company, QazaqGaz will negotiate with the shareholders of the Kashagan field on future potential supplies of liquefied petroleum gas produced at the Bolashak integrated oil and gas processing plant. To date, the parties are collaborating towards making a Final Investment Decision on an infrastructure project in the field of liquefied petroleum gas in 2024.
It is planned that supplies of liquefied petroleum gas to the domestic market will begin by the end of 2025. By 2027, after the completion of infrastructure work at the Kashagan field, LPG production volumes will reach 700,000 tons per year.
Liquefied petroleum gas is a very popular motor fuel in Kazakhstan, which is relatively cheap compared to gasoline and diesel. A dramatic price hike for LPG was the initial stimulus for mass protests in the city of Zhanaozen in January 2022, which then spread across the country.
