Kazakh Energy Ministry in talks with major mineral resource companies to boost oil production

ASTANA. April 14 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry is in talks with major subsoil users on measures to increase oil production, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said Tuesday.

"Negotiations are underway with major subsoil users on measures to increase oil production," Akkenzhenov said at a government meeting.

As part of efforts to boost the country's output, the minister mentioned an ongoing project at the Karachaganak field, where a sixth raw gas reinjection compressor is being commissioned to sustain annual oil output at this field at 10-11 million tonnes.

The energy minister said earlier that crude oil and gas condensate output in Kazakhstan fell 20% in the first quarter of 2026 to 19.7 million tonnes from 24.6 million tonnes in the same period a year earlier.

The decline in oil and gas sector indicators is linked to the situation at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and Tengiz, he said.

In January, a transformer fire occurred at the Tengiz field, leading to a production halt on January 19. Oil production resumed at Tengiz on January 31. On March 11, Akkenzhenov said oil production at Tengiz had been restored following the January incident to 120,000 tonnes per day.

The CPC links oil fields in western Kazakhstan and Russian fields on the Caspian shelf to the maritime terminal in Novorossiysk. The route spans 1,511 kilometers and serves as the primary export channel for Kazakh oil, accounting for over 80% of the volumes pumped from Kazakhstan through the pipeline. The system has an annual capacity to transport approximately 72.5 million tonnes of oil from Kazakh territory and up to 83 million tonnes overall via Russia.

In recent months, CPC facilities have been periodically disrupted by adverse weather and drone attacks targeting the infrastructure.