Overhaul of Shymkent-based oil refinery postponed to spring 2015

Overhaul of the Shymkent-based oil refineries has been postponed to the spring of 2015, a Tengrinews.kz journalist reports, citing Askar Myrzakhmetov, South Kazakhstan oblast governor.

“Not to slow down the production rates at the start of next year and to keep all the indicators in line with plans, the overhaul has been postponed from this year’s autumn to the spring of 2015”, he told a briefing at the President’s Service for Public Communications.

Earlier the country’s Vice Minister of Energy Uzakbai Karabalin had been talking of a possible postponement of the overhaul.

Kazakhstan may remain dependent on Russian petroleum products through to 2019, Artem Ustimenko, a senior analyst with the Agency for Returns on Investments, said in an interview for Tengrinews.kz late August 2014.

According to him, as of now Russia accounts for 1/3 (1.36 million tons) of all the petrol consumed in Kazakhstan and for about 14% (0.7 million tons) of diesel fuel.

“Dependence on Russian petroleum products may remain as long as all the three Kazakhstan-based oil refineries are being overhauled, that is to 2016; however, dependence may linger to 2018-2019”, Mr. Ustimenko said at the time.