Samruk Kazyna NWF Chairman called for increasing the oil recovery factor at mature fields
Akhmetzhan Yessimov, Chairman of the Board of National Welfare Foundation Samruk Kazyna, has toured the construction site of a desalination plant at the Karazhanbas field in Mangystau region and held a meeting on the development of fields, the company’s press service reports.
He together with Alik Aidarbayev, Chairman of the Board of National Company KazMunayGas, have partaken in laying a foundation for the desalination plant, intended for treating, disposing and desalinating produced water of 17,000 m3/day.
“The construction of the plant is of great importance for the field. Every day, 17 000 cubic meters of water is bought from a water conduit running from Astrakhan to Mangystau through Atyrau region. Once the construction is complete by the end of next year, there will be no need to consume such an amount of water and it will be used for other purposes in those two regions. Also, the plant will make it possible to increase oil production by 750 thousand tons and reduce energy costs, that is, ending up being a cost-effective project,” Akhmetzhan Yessimov said.
On the way to Aktau, he has visited the shift camp in the vicinity of the Karazhanbas field and got acquainted with the living conditions of the workers. In Aktau, Akhmetzhan Yessimov has examined the scientific facilities of KazMunayGas and held a meeting on the company’s current tasks.
The meeting touched upon issues to increase the oil recovery factor at mature fields. The Uzen field, Mangystau region, was brought as an example as the field has been operating since the 1960s and its depletion is currently observed. The field used to produce 15 million tons of oil per year, but currently less than 6 million tons are extracted.
“We studied and continue to study the experience of Russia, where they specifically adopted special conditions and laws for some fields as Uzen,” Akhmetzhan Yessimov said.
He pointed out that to preserve jobs and the structure of oil production, it is necessary to seek solutions similar to those adopted in Russia, including tax preferences in old field for investment opportunities to develop production.
He stated that his initiative had already been voiced at a meeting held in Atyrau, and supported by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Akhmetzhan Yessimov gave a number of instructions to KazMunayGas regarding the abovementioned issue and the reserves of depleted deposits. He also stressed the need to continue cooperation with leading foreign companies such as Tatneft and Baker Hughes in an effort to increase production efficiency and introduce new technologies by KazMunayGas group of companies.
