New CEO of KazMunayGas shares his ambitious plans

The new CEO of KazMunayGas, Askhat Khassenov, gave his vision of the company’s future. Khassenov, who took the leadership of the key oil and gas company of Kazakhstan, in his interview for the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, local broadsheet, emphasized the need to optimize corporate standards to hasten the processes and improve performance.

Founded in 2002, KazMunayGas has been a listed company since 2022, actively engaged in oil and gas exploration, production, processing, and transportation. In 2023, the company paid out a record 300 billion KZT (approximately USD 670 million) in dividends to its shareholders and contributed 1.2 trillion KZT (approximately USD 2.7 billion) in taxes to the national budget, demonstrating steady and dynamic economic growth.

In 2023, Kazakhstan produced a total of 90 million tons of oil (approximately 660 million barrels), of which 23.5 million tons (approximately 172 million barrels), or 26%, were produced by KazMunayGas.

Khassenov noted that the company is actively investing in new projects, such as the Kalamkas Offshore-Khazar-Auezov development, valued at USD 6 billion, showcasing the ambitious development plans for the Caspian region. Deep-well drilling activities are currently underway in the Kyzylorda and Aktobe regions.

One of the company’s outstanding achievements is the launch of the KEBCO (Kazakhstan Export Blend Crude Oil) brand, which has been actively quoted since last year, underscoring Kazakhstan’s status as a major player on the global oil and gas stage.

KazMunayGas also plans to expand the capacity of PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP in Shymkent and increase the throughput of the Atyrau-Kenkiyak and Kenkiyak-Kumkol pipelines. In 2022, KazMunayGas’s local plants (the company also owns refining assets in Romania) refined a record 17.8 million tons of crude oil, demonstrating the strong potential of Kazakhstan’s existing refineries.

In terms of petrochemical projects, the company is implementing polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and urea projects, despite their long-term payback periods and high costs. Notably, Kazakhstan successfully built and launched a high-quality polypropylene production plant in 2022, with a capacity of 500 thousand tons, and now exports large volumes of polypropylene to China and Europe.

The company is actively working to reduce the environmental footprint of its operations, including ecosystem rehabilitation and emission reduction projects. Over the last five years, KazMunayGas has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 15%. Additionally, Kazakhstan, in collaboration with the American biotechnology company LanzaJet, is seriously exploring large-scale production of eco-friendly aviation fuel (SAF). An article detailing the project’s start-up prospects is available on the company’s website.

Askhat Khassenov’s interview gives the impression of a charismatic leader. His vision for the company’s development inspires optimism and confidence in the future of KazMunayGas. Time will tell to what extent these ambitious plans will be realized, but the company’s serious and persistent systematic efforts already command respect.