According to the Kazakh news agency Kazinform, Satkaliyev said that agreements have been reached to allow for the increase. He added that Astana and Berlin are exploring the possibility of increasing the size of crude trade further in the future.
In January, Kazakh oil transporter KazTransOil announced it would deliver 300,000t of crude oil to Germany in the first quarter of 2023 via Russia’s Druzhba pipeline. An application filed by the company in December 2022 reserved a total capacity of 1.2 million tons of crude exports for 2023.
In the same month then-energy minister Bulat Aqchulaqov confirmed that the first quarter crude supply would be 300,000t, and that shipments were due to start in January with a “sample batch” of 20,000t. However, first exports only actually began at the end of February, the Diplomat reports. In February and March, 40,000t were supplied to Germany, and 20,000 in April, far short of the 300,000t target announced in January.
Trade between Kazakhstan and Germany totalled €9.8bn ($10.69bn) last year, according to a separate report from Kazinform. Exports from Germany to Kazakhstan were principally cars and chemicals. According to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, direct investment in Kazakhstan stands at €340m.
In April, Kazakhstan’s Government filed a lawsuit seeking $5.1bn against Kazakhstan-based oil and gas developer North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) for breaching environmental protocols at its Kashagan oil project, which holds recoverable oil resources of approximately 9–13 billion barrels. The court found the company guilty of environmental regulation violations relating to the amounts of sulphur found at the oilfield.
In the same month, the government initiated separate arbitration proceedings against the NCOC consortium developing its Kashagan and Karachaganak oilfields for claims worth $16.5bn.
Regarded as one of the biggest oil fields to have been discovered in recent decades, Kashagan is being developed by CNPC, Eni, ExxonMobil, Inpex, KazMunayGas, Shell and TotalEnergies.
