Kazakhstan plans to produce 87 million tons of oil in 2018, the country's Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said at a news conference held at the prime ministry in Astana on Monday.
The country's oil production reached 86.2 million tons in 2017, with an increase of 10.5 percent compared to 2016, while oil exports rose by 12.4 percent, reaching 69.8 million tons, according to Bozumbayev.
The Energy Minister shared that 49.5 million tons of the produced oil was obtained from Kazakhstan's major oil fields, and added, 'In Kashagan, 8.3 million tons of oil, in Tengiz 28.7 million tons and in Karachaganak 12.5 million tons of oil were produced. The volume of produced oil is expected to be around 87 million tons in 2018.'
'Natural gas production increased to 52.9 billion meters in 2017, by 14 percent compared to 2016. This year, 53.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas are planned for production. Natural gas exports increased by 26.3 percent compared to 2016, reaching 17.3 billion cubic meters. It is expected that exports will be around 17.2 billion cubic meters,' he reported.
Bozumbayev also said that production of 2.9 million tons of liquefied natural gas was made in 2017, with expectations of further increases to 23 million tons in 2018.
The country set records in the energy sector in 2017, he said, adding that he anticipates that 2018 will continue with this growth trend.
He noted that the country exported natural gas to China in 2017 for the first time. 'The first 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas were delivered within the framework of the 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas agreement we have made, and we plan to export 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China in the future,' he said.
Reporting by Aliia Raimbekova
Writing by Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
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