Kazakhstan seeks billions of tons in new gas and oil

Kazakhstan explores ultra-deep wells for billions of tons / Photo: kmg.kz, photo editor: Adelina Mamedova

KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company, is advancing 22 exploration projects with a combined resource base of 4.7 billion tons of hydrocarbons, CEO Askhat Khassenov said.

Read also: How $100 oil could pay for Kazakhstan’s nuclear future.

Khassenov said the company is pursuing a strategy focused on deep and underexplored regions to expand its resource base and sustain long-term production.

Remaining recoverable oil reserves at KMG’s operating assets total about 445 million tons, with more than half classified as hard to recover.

«By 2040, we plan to produce an additional 54 million tons of oil, which will help maintain output and preserve jobs at mature fields, around which settlements have developed over many years,» Khassenov said.

KMG has also begun introducing digital twin technology at 12 key oil fields, which account for roughly 90% of its reserves. The company expects this initiative to improve the efficiency of geological and technical operations and support annual production growth of up to 3%.

Kazakhstan’s recoverable oil reserves stood at 4.26 billion tons as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to the Ministry of Industry and Construction’s geology committee.