Kazakhstan’s Government drafts a law to regulate gas supplies

On its sitting May 17 Kazakhstan’s Government decided to submit a draft law on gas supplies for the Parliaments’ consideration, Profinance.kz reports. “The draft law seeks to make sure marketable gas is primarily supplied to the domestic markets; secondly, it seeks to establish a sole national operator of marketable gas supplies: the operator shall have the preemptive right to purchase processed associated gas”, Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said when speaking at the sitting. “Associated gas accounts for 80% of all the gas available (…) This way we intend to enforce President’s instruction to effectively use associated gas to meet domestic demand”, Interfax – Kazakhstan quoted the Minister as saying. The Minister also said that the draft law seeks to establish state regulation of wholesale prices for marketable gas in the domestic markets. Single wholesale prices can be established for each of country’s oblasts and two major cities – Almaty and Astana. “The prices will be set by the Government upon recommendations of the Oil and Gas Ministry and coordinated with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade”, Minister Mynbayev said. According to him, the draft law envisages a master plan to develop the gas supply system: a plan of gas supply facilities to be constructed or modernized. Prices for gas for the internal market of Kazakhstan by 2015 will stand at $59 per a thousand of cubic meters, the Minister told journalists today, following the sitting.