Kazakhstan and Italy’s ENI Review Collaboration in Energy Sector

ASTANA – Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Upstream Director of the Italian company ENI Luca Vignati reviewed ongoing joint work at the Karachaganak and Kashagan fields and explored opportunities for launching new projects in renewable energy sources at a meeting on March 27, reported the Prime Minister’s press service.

Olzhas Bektenov meets Luca Vignati. Photo credit: primeminister.kz

Today, Kazakhstan continues the process of commissioning an additional five-six sour gas reinjection compressors to maintain production at the level of 11 million tons annually.

The construction of a gas processing plant with a capacity of four billion cubic meters per year is underway. The plant aims to provide the population with commercial gas at an affordable price.

The parties highlighted the commissioning of the Badamsha-1 and Badamsha-2 wind power plants in the Aktobe Region and the Shaulder solar power plant in the Turkistan Region.

The focus is now on constructing a 247-megawatt (MW) hybrid combined power plant in the Mangystau Region that will operate on renewable energy sources and natural gas and ensure uninterrupted production.

This project, comprising a 77 MW wind power plant, a 50 MW solar power plant, and a 120 MW gas power plant, is in its final preparatory stages, as Vignati and KazMunayGas Chairman Magzum Mirzagaliyev announced at a March 26 meeting.

The parties signed a corresponding decision to build this plant in Zhanaozen on Jan. 18 in Rome.

They also discussed plans for drilling the first exploratory well at the Abai block in the Caspian Sea and further stages of Kashagan and Karachaganak field development, prioritizing an increase in commercial gas production.

Moreover, they highlighted the successful export of Karachaganak oil through the Transneft system to German refineries, with transportation expected to continue in 2024.


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