The Kazakh Ministry of Energy has announced that the national oil and gas company KazMunayGas and Russia’s Lukoil have started the implementation of the Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar oil projects located in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan. The companies thus established the Kalamkas-Khazar Operating joint venture as project operator.
The Kalamkas-Sea field is located in the central part of the northeastern sector of the Caspian Sea, 64 km from the coast, while the Khazar deposit is located 30 km southwest of the Kalamkas-Sea and 65 km northwest of the Buzachi Peninsula. The construction of offshore platforms for the project is set to begin in 2026 at Kazakh shipyards.
In February 2023, Lukoil had signed agreements with KazMunayGas for joint exploration and development of the Kalamkas-Sea, Khazar, and Auezov offshore area development project. The total reserves of these offshore exploration blocks is estimated at 67 Mt of oil and 9 bcm of natural gas. Oil and gas production at the Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar fields is expected to begin in 2028 and could amount to 3 to 4 Mtoe/year.
Kazakhstan produced 92 Mt of crude oil and NGL and 32 bcm of gas in 2023. Kazakhstan has abundant energy reserve, amounting to about 4.1 Gt for oil and 1,800 bcm for gas (2022).