On 21 December 2023, Ural Oil and Gas LLP, with 50% owned by NC KazMunayGas JSC, brought into commercial operation the Rozhkovskoye gas condensate field in the West Kazakhstan region.

The ceremony for the start of commercial operation was attended by Alikhan Smayilov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Zsombor Marton, MOL Group’s Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production, and Guo Yueliang, Chairman of the Board of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corporation. The field was launched on site by Nariman Turegaliyev, Akim of the West Kazakhstan region, Magzum Mirzagaliyev, Chairman of the Management Board of NC KazMunayGas JSC, Evgeny Lapshin, CEO of MOL Group Russia/Kazakhstan and Zhao Wenmin, Vice President of First International Oil Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of Sinopec.

The production plateau will be about 1 bcm of gas and over 500 thousand tonnes of condensate annually, with liquefied petroleum gas production of over 150 thousand tonnes annually. Raw gas from the field will be supplied to the gas processing capacities of Zhaikmunai LLP, followed by the supply of commercial gas to the domestic market.

Rozhkovskoye will become a source of additional volumes of natural gas. The raw materials extracted from the field will be processed at the capacities of the Zhaikmunai company. The development is carried out in partnership with foreign partners. This has already enabled us to use their experience in the preparation and implementation of the required design solutions,” said Alikhan Smayilov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.

“In October last year, at a meeting on the development of the energy industry, the Head of State ordered to increase the production volumes of commercial gas. In May we launched the Aksai South field, in early December, the Urikhtau East field, and are finishing this year with the commissioning of the Rozhkovskoye field. The project is to have a positive impact on the further socio-economic development of the West Kazakhstan region. The share of local content in the works and services of Ural Oil and Gas LLP is at least 74%. More than 450 people were involved in the project during the construction period and 80 permanent jobs have been created,” said Magzum Mirzagaliyev, Chairman of the Management Board of NC KazMunayGas JSC.

“On behalf of Sinopec, I would like to express my most sincere congratulations on the official start of commercial production at the Rozhkovskoye gas field. Particularly, let me thank the Kazakh government for its support, as well as the entire management of the Operating Company (“Ural Oil and Gas” – comment) for the work done. Sinopec attaches great importance to the development of this gas field and will provide all necessary support to the project in a timely manner,” said Guo Yueliang, Chairman of the Board of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corporation, during the launch ceremony.

“We highly appreciate the fact that the Kazakh and Hungarian governments have recognized MOL’s activities in the Kazakh oil and gas sector as a flagship economic cooperation project between our countries. I would like express my gratitude to the teams of MOL and Ural Oil and Gas, as well as to our partners, and the governments of the two countries for their joint efforts,” Zsombor Marton, MOL Group Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production,noted.

The members of Ural Oil and Gas LLP are NC KazMunayGas JSC (50%), the Hungarian MOL Caspian Oil and Gas Plc. (27.5%) and Chinese First International Oil Corporation (22.5%).