Kazakhstan's Energy Minister has announced the cooperation with China’s CITIC Construction for the development of its Karachaganak Gas Processing Plant (GPP) (Qazinform News Agency, 13/04/2026).
The project, which is a key element of Kazakhstan’s 2029 Comprehensive Gas Industry Development Plan, will have QazaqGaz as its sole operator and it is planned to have a capacity of up to 5 bcm/year of gas. The energy minister confirmed the economic feasibility of the project and is preparing for the FEED (front-end engineering design) stage. Once developed, the project should meet the growing domestic demand for commercial gas and reduce dependence on imports.
In early developments of the project the consortium looked for a partnership with Shell and Eni to construct the project with a capacity of 4 bcm/year scheduled to come online in 2028. Since the partnership failed to reach an FID, the project was delayed, and the participation of Shell and Eni was ruled out.