US to strengthen its presence in Kazakhstan and Central Asia

On January 16, US President Donald Trump received Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the White House in Washington DC where they discussed issues of further bilateral cooperation with a focus on the oil and gas and energy sectors. This was the first visit of the leader of one of the Central Asian countries to the United States in 2018. Within the visit business circles of Kazakhstan and the United States concluded more than 20 contracts worth more than $ 7.5 billion. As New Europe writes in an article "US to strengthen its presence in Central Asia", on the same day, Nazarbayev met with US Energy Secretary Rick Perry and State Agency for Foreign Private Investment President Ray Washburn.

Kazakhstan is one of the major oil-producing countries, not only in Central Asia, but also in the world. Kazakhstan as an oil-producing country participates in the transaction of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries, which obliges to reduce the level of oil production. As a result of 2017, the volume of oil production in Kazakhstan is 86.2 million tonnes.

During a meeting with Perry, Nazarbayev praised Kazakhstan-US cooperation in the oil and gas sector and spoke about the implementation of projects at the Tengiz and Kashagan oilfields.

Chevron and ExxonMobil entered the Kazakhstan market in 1993, becoming the first large oil companies to invest in a new independent country.

Chevron signed a landmark contract for a period of 40 years to develop a large Tengiz field, and over the years the company has invested tens of billions of US dollars in oil and gas production in Kazakhstan.

With a total investment volume of over $20.2 billion, ExxonMobil is actively engaged in offshore exploration at the Kashagan field, as well as the development, production and transportation of oil and gas. The Kashagan project will work for decades, and its shareholders, including ExxonMobil, expect that the Government of Kazakhstan will receive billions of US dollars.

Chevron and ExxonMobil contributed to the development of Kazakhstan’s economy by participating in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). In 2017, the CPC completed the Kazakhstan part of the project to expand the pipeline, which could increase its total throughput capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day. The pipeline system is the most attractive option for the export of Kazakh oil from the Tengiz and Kashagan fields to world markets.

In 2017, the United States and Kazakhstan increased their bilateral energy partnership to the level of the Strategic Energy Dialogue. Practical discussions in the framework of the dialogue will begin in 2018. This expanded format provides the basis for cooperation in the development of peaceful nuclear industry, technologies for carbon capture, storage and utilization, stability of energy networks, as well as nuclear safety and non-proliferation.

Kazakhstan and the United States intend to continue cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. So, the president of Kazakhstan told Perry about the opening of the Bank of low-enriched uranium. Kazakhstan is a leading uranium supplier, producing more than 24,000 tonnes of nuclear fuel in 2016. In 2017, Kazakhstan opened the Low Enriched Uranium Bank in partnership with the United States. The bank provides a reliable source of fuel for countries transitioning to clean nuclear energy, and reduces the risk of proliferation of enrichment technologies.

The parties also agreed to cooperate in the field of modernization of the regional energy system. Kazakhstan and the United States agreed to explore technologies and projects for the reintegration of the regional energy system in Central Asia and improve energy security, improve economic stability and promote commercial investment.

Active co-production is planned in the joint Central-Asian project “Energy of the Future”, which supports projects in the field of renewable energy, which will help achieve more ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In general, over the years of independence, more than $50 billion of investments were received from large US oil companies in Kazakhstan. Within the framework of the visit, more than 20 contracts worth more than $ 7.5 billion were signed.