The Russian oil and gas company Lukoil has signed agreements with the Kazakh state-owned gas group KazMunayGaz (KMG) for joint exploration and development of the Kalamkas-Sea, Khazar and Auezov offshore area development project, located in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea. The two companies will have equal shares in the development project (50% each).
The total reserves of these three 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.
The Kalamkas-Sea project was originally developed by a consortium called the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC, where KMG had a 16.88% share, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total and Eni had 16.81% each, and CNPC had 8.33%). However, NCOC abandoned the project, citing low profitability, and the field was returned to the Kazakh Government.
In 2021, Kazakhstan produced 87 Mt of crude oil and NGL and 29 bcm of natural gas. At the end of 2021, the country had proved oil reserves reaching 30,000 mbl and proved gas reserves reaching 1,830 bcm.