Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik assured the problem of petrol shortages will be fully tackled in October, a Tengrinews journalist reports.
Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik assured the problem of petrol shortages will be fully tackled in October, a Tengrinews journalist reports.
“I believe the situation at the petrol market is going to be normalized in October. Now some part of petrol is being supplied from the neighboring Russia”, he said on the sidelines of a forum on transborder cooperation in Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, September 30.
First Vice Minister UzakbaiKarabalin elaborated that “the contracts on petrol supplies from Russia are already working, with the situation at the petrol market changing for the better every day. The deficit stands at 30% and we have to bridge the gap between the domestic production and consumption through petrol imports from Russia. Now the supplies have been resumed after a certain suspension [due to a certain petrol retail price ceiling in Kazakhstan lower than wholesale prices in Russia]”, he said.
When commenting on possible price hikes, Mr. Karabalin refused to specify how long the prices will remain at the current level.
Back September 16 he told a briefing that petrol production at the three Kazakhstan-based oil refineries in September is estimated at 250 000 tons, with 186 000 being AI-92 petrol. The current monthly demand for petrol stands at 280 000 tons. According to him, to meet the domestic demand, KazMunaiGas National Oil Company has been commissioned to import fuel from abroad.