OREANDA-NEWS. January 30, 2014. An enlarged board meeting of the Ministry of Oil and Gas was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov.

The Head of the Ministry of Oil and Gas U. Karabalin reported on the results of the development of oil and gas industry and its prospects.

According to the minister, oil and condensate production was 81.8 million tons in 2013, which is above the level of 2012 by 3.2%. Gas production in the reporting period reached 42.3 billion cubic meters, which exceeds the plan by 4.4%, and last year's one - by 5.4%.
Summing up the board, the Prime Minister noted the stable growth of oil and gas sector by all major indicators such as production, processing and export of hydrocarbons.

S. Akhmetov named the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and "Tengizchevroil" within the project of expanding TCO; the Intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in the field of transportation of Russian oil to China by Kazakhstan pipeline system, as well as the start-up of "Bozoy - Shymkent" pipeline and bitumen plant in Mangystau region among the significant results of the past year.

"Those are important events for us. Therefore, in general, we can say that the groundwork created in the past year will give a further impetus to the oil and gas industry ", S. Akhmetov said.

Therewith, as part of the instructions of the President, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to develop new approaches for management of oil and gas sector and the final determination of the possible scenarios of oil and gas extraction.

"This is a major work that needs to be addressed comprehensively. It is important to connect all stakeholders, research organizations, large mineral developers," the Prime Minister said.
S. Akhmetov instructed MOG and NC "KazMunaiGas" to "accelerate the development of strategies for oil and gas."

Along with this, S. Akhmetov said that "the implementation of investment projects in the oil and gas industry involves a high demand for equipment and engineering products."
"We need to determine the need for industry in engineering products, to organize production localization around large mineral developers," S. Akhmetov ordered.

The Prime Minister also discussed the issues on prevention of labour disputes.

"It is necessary to pay particular attention on the questions of providing decent labour conditions for workers, the organization of their everyday life, the quality of food. These issues should be priorities for the leaders of the companies. There will be a tough monitoring by the Government," S. Akhmetov stressed.

Speaking about the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, the Prime Minister stressed the need to create equal conditions for all investors.

"Our rules should be transparent and understandable to investors. We should not divide them: foreign or domestic. Conditions should be the same for all. Stability should be in creation of conditions for investors, and this is one of the main objectives of the Government," S. Akhmetov said.

Summarizing his speech, the Prime Minister emphasized that "not only the future of the industry, but also Kazakhstan's economy in general depends on the implementation of the tasks the Ministry facing."

S. Akhmetov focused on the need of "effort to achieve the tasks set by the President on oil and gas development."