Production at Kazakhstan's Karachaganak not yet fully restored - KMG

ASTANA. June 30 (Interfax) - Production of liquid hydrocarbons at the Karachaganak field is currently at a level of around 28,000 tonnes per day, the head of the Kazakh national company KazMunayGas (KMG) Askat Khasenov said.

"Production is continuing. The current restrictions are a holdover from earlier disruptions. We've managed to bring output back up to about 28,000 tonnes per day, down from the usual 31,000 [tonnes]," Khasenov told reporters on the sidelines of parliament in Astana on Tuesday.

As reported, the output at Karachaganak, Kazakhstan's largest oil and gas field, was cut by 9,000 tonnes per day on June 26 due to an incident at the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant (GPP).

From the Karachaganak field, raw gas is supplied to Gazprom's Orenburg plant. After processing, part of the volumes is returned to Kazakhstan in the form of commercial and liquefied gas. The production of raw (associated) gas at the Karachaganak field is inextricably linked with the extraction of oil and gas condensate.

The Energy Ministry said on June 24 that Kazakhstan had rerouted gas deliveries and was covering its fuel needs from other sources due to the incident at the Orenburg GPP.

Gazprom and KazMunayGas have been cooperating since 2002 as part of the joint venture KazRosGas. The JV was created on a parity basis for purchasing gas from the Karachaganak field, processing it at the Orenburg GPP and selling it to consumers in Kazakhstan and Russia.

A long-term purchase deal for gas from the Karachaganak field between operator Karachaganak Petroleum Operating BV and KazRosGaz was signed in 2007 and extended in 2015 through 2038 for volumes of up to 9 billion cubic meters a year.

Karachaganak ranks among the world's largest fields, holding 1.2 billion tonnes of oil and 1.35 trillion cubic meters of gas.