en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ashat Khasenov, Chairman of the Management Board of KazMunayGas (KMG), outlined the company's main development directions and current industry policy improvement measures at a meeting of the "Justice" Party Business Committee held in Astana.
Khasenov stated that the state's geological exploration incentives, including the introduction of subsurface use contracts for complex projects and the acceleration of environmental permitting procedures, have enabled KMG to launch a large-scale geological exploration work plan. Currently, KMG's investment portfolio covers 23 projects with total geological reserves of approximately 4.7 billion tons of standard fuel. Future plans include drilling 26 exploration wells and conducting major seismic exploration work.
Exploration of hydrocarbons in deep formations is technically challenging and requires substantial funding. Against the backdrop of the natural depletion of reserves in existing fields, KMG has taken on the responsibility of implementing large-scale geological exploration projects to ensure energy stability. Khasenov emphasized that the company proposes implementing a regional seismic exploration program covering 60,000 kilometers, which would allow Kazakhstan to conduct comprehensive studies of the country's most promising oil and gas regions using modern methods for the first time in decades. To implement this initiative, key measures are being developed and government support is being secured.
To maintain oil production from mature fields, KMG is introducing new technologies for enhanced oil recovery methods. This requires significant investment but can extend field production life, preserve production infrastructure, and retain jobs. It is expected that by 2040, an additional approximately 55 million tons of oil will be produced through the application of these technologies. Currently, 60% of the oil produced by KMG is supplied to the domestic market, and mature fields employ about 46,000 people.
Khasenov noted that developing oil processing remains one of the national company's priorities. KMG is implementing a series of strategic projects to expand the production capacity of domestic refineries, including improving refinery efficiency by extending maintenance cycles and increasing the capacity of the Shymkent and Pavlodar refineries. By 2031, gasoline production is expected to increase to 3 million tons, diesel production to 5 million tons, and aviation kerosene production to 1 million tons.
In recent years, KMG has paid special attention to developing petrochemicals. Domestic market demand has grown steadily, with polyethylene consumption increasing by 57% and polypropylene consumption by 30% over the past five years. Following the commissioning of the Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries Inc. plant, the share of polypropylene imports fell from 65% in 2022 to 8% in 2025. Khasenov stated that KMG will continue to implement strategic projects in the oil and gas sector to ensure energy market security.
