Moody’s Investors Service on Kazkahstan’s 2013 GDP

Real GDP growth is expected at 5% in 2013, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing Moody’s Investors Service. Thorsten Nestmann, Vice-President, Senior Analyst with Moody’s Investors Service, doesn’t exclude the country’s GDP will make up 5% in 2014. According to him, GDP can be maintained at 5% in 2014, with the growth depending on the giant Kashagan oilfield expected to start commercial production later this year. Tengrinews.kz reported earlier, citing the country’s Economic Affairs Minister Erbolat Dossayev, that GDP growth in Jan- May 2013 totaled 5%. According to him, as of the end of the year the indicator will make up 6%. The Kashagan field, named after a 19th century Kazakh poet from Mangistau, is located in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea and extends over a surface area of approximately 75 kilometers by 45 kilometers. The reservoir lies some 4,200 meters below the shallow waters of the northern part of the Caspian Sea and is highly pressured (770 bar of initial pressure). The crude oil that it contains has high ‘sour gas’ content. The development of Kashagan, in the harsh offshore environment of the northern part of the Caspian Sea, represents a unique combination of technical and supply chain complexity. The combined safety, engineering, logistical and environmental challenges make it one of the largest and most complex industrial projects currently being developed anywhere in the world. According to Kazakhstan geologists, geological reserves of Kashagan are estimated at 4.8 billion tons of oil. According to the project’s operator, the oilfield’s reserves are estimated at 38 billion barrels, with 10 billion barrels being recoverable. Plans are there to produce from 1.5 to 3 million tons of oil at the giant Kashagan oilfield in 2013, Newskaz.ru reported, citing KazMunaiGas National Oil Company’s Chairman of the Board Lyazzat Kiinov as saying April 29.