Kazakhstan

The Kazakhstani economy minister announced on Wednesday that a price freeze would be in effect until "at least next spring". He said that this was due to the rising fuel prices in Russia - Kazakhstan's main trading partner and neighbour. Serik Jumangarin said to reporters in Astana: "What is important now for us is to wait. At least until next Spring." We must wait until the neighbouring countries stabilise." He said: "The situation has to do with the events that are unfolding because of the conflict between Russia, Ukraine and other countries. The petroleum prices in this country have been...

Kazakhstan's Government announced on Thursday that it would freeze the price of some diesel and petrol as well as suspend utility tariff increases until 2026. This is due to the double-digit inflation rate continuing to increase. In a Telegram statement, the government announced that price freezes for diesel and AI92 gasoline will remain in effect until inflation stabilizes. It also said it would increase funding for the domestic agriculture to help prevent any price increases on what it called "socially important" food products. The government also claimed that it would reduce the tax revenue collected by small businesses, and make...

The energy ministry announced on Tuesday that Kazakhstan, which is one of the fastest-growing oil producing countries in the world plans to increase its fuel exports into China, India, and Central Asia. It hopes to capitalize on the growing demand for fuel in these regions. The government has approved a long-term strategy for the development of the oil refining sector between 2025 and 2040. Currently, the country has export restrictions for gasoline and diesel. After modernisation, the country now has three large oil production plants in Pavlodar, Shymkent, and Atyrau, with a combined annual output of 17 million metric tonnes...

Five sources claim that OPEC+ producers will approve a big increase in output for September, as they finish unwinding the voluntary output cuts of eight members. They will also allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to pump more oil to meet a higher quota. In April, plans to undo cuts of 2,17 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), began with an increase of 138,000 bpd. In May, June, and July, the increase was 411,000 barrels per day (bpd), despite lower oil prices. The group voted on Saturday to approve a 548,000-bpd increase for August. On Monday, five sources familiar...

RIA News Agency reported that Alexander Novak, the Russian prime minister, said on Monday morning that the OPEC+ grouping of major oil producers had not yet discussed raising output by another 411,000 barley per day before its meeting. On May 28, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia will host an online ministerial conference. Novak told RIA that he expected the two to discuss the current market conditions, forecasts, and "adjustments". Eight OPEC+ nations will meet separately, who had committed to voluntary extra cuts in oil production. Three OPEC+ source told us earlier...

Goldman Sachs said on Friday that it expects OPEC+ will announce a second consecutive supply increase for June on July 1 due to the modest compliance of Kazakhstan, lower than expected OECD inventory levels, and Saudi Arabia’s ability to deal with lower oil prices. The Wall Street bank expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to announce a 410,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) increase in supply for June in its meeting on Saturday, from its prior estimate of 140,000 bpd, according to a note. Three sources said on Friday that the OPEC+ summit was moved from Monday to...

Kassym Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president, said that he has instructed his government urgently to complete work on a new plan to protect Central Asia from global economic shocks. Kazahstan, the only Central Asian country targeted by President Donald Trump, was subjected to additional tariffs of 27 percent earlier this month. Despite Trump's Wednesday reversal of many of the heavy duties, the countries still face a tariff of 10%. Kazakhstan is also vulnerable to falling oil prices, as the U.S. continues to put pressure on China. Kazakhstan is among the top 10 oil producing countries in the world. According to...

Sources said that as OPEC+ debated if they should keep oil production steady because of weak global demand, or increase it in response to pressure from the U.S. president Donald Trump and internal pressure, a record output from Kazakhstan helped sway their decision. OPEC, along with its allies, including Russia, a collective known as OPEC+ decided to increase production for the first since 2022. It stated that its decision was based on a healthy market and positive market prospects, without mentioning Kazakhstan. The group plans to increase production by 138,000 barrels a day starting in April. This is the first...

Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kazakhstan stressed on Wednesday the significance of complete dedication to the voluntary oil production cuts concurred by the Company of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, the Saudi state news agency reported. OPEC+ members are discussing an additional hold-up to a prepared oil output trek that was due to start in January, 2 sources from the producer group told Reuters on Tuesday, ahead of Sunday's meeting to decide policy for the early months of 2025. The remarks follow a meeting on phone held by Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Kazakh Energy Minister...

5 years ago, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth won Wall Street honor as the No. 2 U.S. oil business quickly attained a market value larger than Exxon Mobil's after he refused to get into a bidding war with Occidental Petroleum over a rival. He was ahead of the game when the pandemic hit oil and gas need, requiring competitors to make deep cutbacks that Wirth had already taken on at Chevron. Its shares had actually outshined rivals for five years till 2022. Fast forward to 2024 and Wirth's legacy is in threat. Chevron's falling earnings no longer cover its dividends and...

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, has over the past 3 years built a worldwide portfolio with possessions in 33 nations. The company's overseas production went beyond 100 million metric loads, or 2 million barrels per day of oil equivalent, for the first time in 2019 and has given that preserved that level, according to its Economics and Technology Research Study Institute. CNPC and its noted car PetroChina has given that 2002 invested an approximated $38.6 billion in upstream possessions outside China, versus Sinopec's $49.7 billion and CNOOC Ltd's $36. billion, according to consultancy Wood...

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are going over increasing the transit of Kazakh oil through Azerbaijan to 57 million tonnes, an official at Azerbaijan's. stateowned oil business SOCAR said on Thursday. Kazakhstan is attempting to decrease reliance on Russia with. regard to its energy exports, as most of Kazakhstan's flow of. 1.5 million barrels daily or 1.5% of worldwide supply go by means of. various Russian pipelines. We are presently performing negotiations with the Kazakh. side about increasing oil transit from this country to 5-7. million tonnes, stated Zaur Gakhramanov, an advisor to SOCAR's. president. Azerbaijan plans to open an oil terminal...

Almasadam Satkaliyev said that Kazakhstan and Finland are discussing the possibility of Kazakhstan supplying uranium for Finnish nuclear power plants. Satkaliyev didn't give any details about the volumes when he spoke to reporters in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan during the visit by the Finnish President Alexander Stubb. He did not give any indication of a potential start date for the deliveries. Kazakhstan, the largest uranium-producing country in the world, produced 23,270 metric tonnes of uranium by 2024. It plans to produce between 25,000 and 26,500 tons in 2025. FINLAND PHASING OUT RUSSIAN FUEL SUPPLIES Kazakhstan does not have its...

Solidcore Resources, a Kazakh gold miner, expects that high gold prices will offset a large part of the production decline due to sanctions related disruptions in concentrate shipments into Russia. The gold price has risen by about 40% in the past year. It reached a record-high of $3,673.95 per ounce, last week, on expectations that the U.S. will soon cut interest rates. Solidcore, previously Polymetal International sold its Russian assets after the U.S. imposed sanctions on its business in Russia. However, it continues to send gold concentrator to Russia to be processed with U.S. approval. The company's profit nearly doubled...

Kazatomprom announced plans on Friday to triple its exploration in Kazakhstan, and explore opportunities for international expansion, following recent agreements signed with Jordan and Mongolia. State-controlled company currently produces its uranium in Jordan, but last week signed an agreement with Jordan to develop the country's assets. "We have been recognized for our mining capabilities, which is why... we also look at opportunities overseas," Meirzhan Yossupov, Chief Executive of the World Nuclear Symposium held in London. Kazatomprom has also signed a deal with Mongolia's Mon-Atom, in addition to its Jordan agreement. Yussupov stated that his company was exploring other options. We...

Kazakhstan's atomic energy agency announced on Friday that the country, which is the largest producer of uranium in the world, will produce its own nuclear fuel to power nuclear power plants in Central Asia in the next few years. Kazakhstan has no nuclear power plants yet, but it does have uranium deposits that are second in the world only to Australia. In October, 71.12% supported the construction of nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan. Local media reported that Rosatom, a Russian company, began construction on Friday in the village of Ulken in Kazakhstan's southeast. The survey and engineering work will take...

Five sources familiar with the situation say that the Trump administration is in active discussions with Azerbaijan about the possibility of bringing this nation and other Central Asian allies to the Abraham Accords. The goal is to strengthen their current ties with Israel. In the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 and 2021, during Trump's initial term, four Muslim majority countries agreed to normalize their diplomatic relations with Israel, after U.S. mediated. Azerbaijan, and all countries in Central Asia have had long-standing relations with Israel. Therefore, an expansion of the Abraham Accords to include these countries would be largely symbolic. It...

China's President Xi Jinping has signed a treaty that will strengthen ties with Central Asian countries. Beijing is looking to deepen its cooperation with this resource-rich area in the areas of trade, energy, and infrastructure. Beijing has intensified its efforts since Russia invaded Ukraine to strengthen economic ties with Central Asian countries, which are traditionally in Russia's spheres of influence. This is due to their strategic location and abundant energy resources. Xinhua, the official news agency of China, reported that at a regional summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, Xi hailed a landmark by signing a treaty establishing "permanent friendship...

In a statement released after the India-Central Asia Dialogue's fourth meeting in New Delhi, India and five countries from central Asia expressed an interest in exploring rare earths together. The announcement coincides with global alarm about China's decision not to export rare earth alloys and mixtures. This has affected industries from automotives to clean energy and defence. India and central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan as well as Uzbekistan, also asked "relevant authorities" to convene the India-Central Asia Rare Earth Forum sooner than the September meeting. The statement added that the sides agreed to meet again in 2026....

Solidcore Resources Plc, a Kazakh gold mining company, aims to borrow $1 billion to develop projects in Kazakhstan by 2026. CEO Vitaly Nesis said that. Nesis, in an interview, said that the company, which was formerly known as Polymetal before it changed its name, also considers placing bonds up to $300,000,000 on the Muscat stock exchange (MSX). Solidcore, Kazakhstan’s second-largest gold miner plans to produce 15 tons of gold annually in the country by 2025 and 2026. Nesis confirmed this. In an interview, he said: "By 2025-2026 we would like to borrow at least $1 billion." He stated that the...

Solidcore, a Kazakh gold miner, is looking at issuing bonds to fund investment in Kazakhstan, including new projects estimated to cost $350 million. The company's CEO Vitaly Nesis said that Solidcore was considering issuing these bonds to the Gulf region. Solidcore (formerly Polymetal International) is the second largest gold miner of Kazakhstan. In 2024, the company was forced to sell its Russian assets which accounted for 70% of its production. This happened after U.S. sanctioned its operations in Russia. Mercury Investments, a government-owned fund in Oman, was the largest shareholder of this new company. Its five-year investment program had to...

Kazakh gold miner Solidcore said Monday that high gold prices and growth in sales have almost doubled their net profit by 2024. However, they warned of the impact sanctions on concentrate delivery to Russia will have on first-quarter revenues. Solidcore (formerly Polymetal International) is the second largest gold miner in Kazakhstan. It expects to produce 487,000 gold equivalent ounces by 2025. In 2024, the company sold off its Russian assets after U.S. sanctions were imposed on its business in Russia in response to Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine. About 70% of the group's output and 50% of its core earnings...

Is Uranium a Critical Mineral? The U.S. Geological Survey has decided that it is not a critical mineral. It was removed from the list of critical minerals in 2022 because it wasn't a "fuel-mineral". Donald Trump, the president of the United States, wants you to reconsider. In one of Trump's "Unleashing America's Energy" directives, the Secretary of Interior is required to instruct the Director of the USGS "to consider updating the survey list of critical mineral including the possibility of including uranium." Included on the list, domestic uranium project funding and approvals would be expedited. It is curious that uranium...

Is Uranium a Critical Mineral? The U.S. Geological Survey has decided that it is not a critical mineral. It was removed from the list of critical minerals in 2022 because it wasn't a "fuel-mineral". Donald Trump, the president of the United States, wants you to reconsider. In one of Trump's "Unleashing America's Energy" directives, the Secretary of Interior is required to instruct the Director of the USGS "to consider updating the survey list of critical mineral including the possibility of including uranium." Included on the list, domestic uranium project funding and approvals would be expedited. It is curious that uranium...