Editor❜s Note
October turned out to be full of surprises
At the beginning of October, we took part in the traditional KAZENERGY Forum. It is a major autumn networking event in Astana, where one can meet old colleagues, make new connections, gain industry insights, and hear the perspectives of top analysts and top managers from different countries on the future of the oil and gas sector.
Reality makes its own adjustments to any forecasts, and October turned out to be full of surprises. First, the drone attack on the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant led to economic losses for Kazakhstan. Karachaganak was forced to reduce production by one quarter after the Orenburg GPP imposed restrictions on gas intake.
Then came British and American sanctions against the Russian company Lukoil, which has long and productively cooperated with Kazakhstan in oil production and transportation, geological exploration and field development, and also produces lubricants and develops a franchised network of filling stations in Almaty. In response, Lukoil announced the sale of its foreign assets. Will this divestment affect us?
The global oil and gas market is rapidly fragmenting into a conditional West and the Global South. What is Kazakhstan’s place in this new geopolitical reality? This is the subject of an interview with Vyacheslav Mishchenko, former head of Argus Media in Eurasia.
Igor Alekseev, Managing Director and Partner of Boston Consulting Group, shares his perspective on the future of the refining and petrochemical sector in Central Asia.
And participants of the SPE seminar pose the question: if enhanced oil recovery methods can significantly increase recovery factors, why are they applied only at a late stage? Is it possible to change the situation by implementing such technologies earlier, before field productivity begins to decline?
I invite you to explore this issue!
Sincerely,
Oleg Chervinskiy,
Publisher