Kazakhstan mini-refineries have reduced refining volumes by 23%

The processing of raw materials at mini-refineries amounted to 149.9 thousand tons in this period, compared to 195.9 thousand tons in January-March 2023, the Argus agency reports.

The largest drop was shown by the “Amangeldy” gas Processing Plant (due to repair work at the “Amangeldy” gas condensate field) and Mangistau Oil Refining in Aktau. The Ural Petroleum plant in the West Kazakhstan region was idle, only shipping previously produced petroleum products. Other mini-refineries also felt a shortage of raw materials, and the activities of factories in the Aktyubinsk region were affected by flooding.

In total, 23 mini-refineries are officially registered in the country, but only 10 of them have been operating steadily over the past year. Another six produced winter diesel fuel by compounding.

For the most part, Kazakhstan's mini-refineries produce primary oil refining products, including fuel oil, furnace and marine fuels, diesel fuel, medium and heavy distillates, purchasing raw materials from small mining companies that do not have access to the export pipeline and large refineries. In early March 2024, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan began revoking the passports of mini-refineries, which lack information on the availability of secondary oil refining facilities.