Company News -- Kazakhstan Weekly News

Oil & Gas

The national oil company, Kazakhoil, its Atyrau Refinery affiliate, and the Japanese firm Marubeni Corporation plan to sign a contract by the end of March for the renovation of the Atyrau Refinery, a source close to Kazakhoil told the Prime-Tass news agency.

The Japanese side is expected to prepare a contract by the end of February.

Kazakhoil and the Atyrau Refinery pledged to provide Marubeni with all the relevant information on technical details and equipment characteristics by January 15, and oil samples from fields in the Mangyshlak and Martyshinsk basins will be handed over by January 20.

The first stage of the project, which includes engineering work, equipment delivery and the construction of a new oil processing facility, is planned for completion by September or October 2000.

The Atyrau Refinery modernisation project, which will improve facilities for fractionating, the hydro-purification of diesel fuel, amino-purification, isomerisation and sulphur extraction, will boost the plant’s capacity to 4.3 million tonnes and cost an estimated USD 412 million. (Golden Eagle Partners)

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The JSC Shymkentnefteorgsintez (ShNOS) has announced that it will hold its annual shareholders meeting on February 11, 2000, at the company’s Almaty office, the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper reported. Issues on the agenda include the reduction of its charter capital, the confirmation of the annual financial report and dividend sharing. If quorum is not present, another meeting will be held on the following day.

ShNOS, which is controlled by Kazkommertsbank, is currently in the process of being acquired by the Canadian oil company Hurricane Hydrocarbons. (Golden Eagle Partners)

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In 1999 ShNOS processed 3.3 million tonnes of crude, said the technical director of the company, Victor Pak, at a meeting with the Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade, Vladimir Shkolnik. In 1998 the company processed 3.7 million tonnes of crude, while its installed capacity is 6 million tonnes per annum. During the meeting the Minister expressed his concern over the high prices of gasoline. He said the prices should be changed by increasing the volume of processed crude. If prices are not lowered “we will never break the eternal circle where farmers cannot increase output because of high fuel prices and refineries cannot increase output because of the low purchasing power of its customers,” the minister said. (Interfax)

Metals & Mining

The Ekibastuz-based ferro-silicon-aluminium alloy producer Karakas Ltd. has launched a second furnace with the capacity to turn out 2,500 tonnes of metal per year, the Panorama newspaper reported. After the modernisation of its facilities is complete, Karakas will produce 3,000 tonnes of alloy per year.

Karakas is the only plant in the CIS that produced ferro-silicon-aluminium using coal wastes, an abundant commodity in the coal-mining city of Ekibastuz. The enterprise’s main customers are JSC Ispat-Karmet and JSC KazakhTractor.

The cost of the alloys produced by Karakas’ technology is USD 650 per tonne, while similar alloys from Russia cost USD 880 per tonne. An increase in the plant’s capacity will also assist in resolving the coal waste utilisation problem at the Ekibastuz coal pits. (Golden Eagle Partners)

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JSC Erlovo, which operates the Atansor iron ore field, plans to extract 900,000 tonnes of iron ore in the year 2000, Erlovo’s General Director, Rodion Ten, told Interfax. Ten also noted that the enterprise met 100% of its anticipated output for 1999.

Last year, Erlovo shipped about 20,000 tonnes of iron per month to the Ispat-Karmet steel mill, the only Kazakhstani enterprise that requires iron ore feedstock. According to the company’s general director, since November 1999 Erlovo has been conducting supply negotiations with a number of Russian companies, including the Western Siberian, Kuznezk, Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk and Orsk-Halilov metallurgy plants.

This year, Erlovo plans to construct and launch an 11-km power transmission line with a capacity of 110 kW, and a stationary crushing facility with an annual capacity of 1 million tonnes. Ten stated that the company will invest a total of KZT 2 billion in the Atansor field’s development by 2007. (Golden Eagle Partners)

Power

The Kazakhstani government has issued a special resolution appointing Nurlan Kapparov as board chairman of the national power grid operator JSC KEGOC, the government information department’s director, Sergey Kuzovnikov, told the Interfax news agency. Kuzovnikov stated that, irrespective of his new appointment, Kapparov will retain his position as the Deputy Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade. Prior to that ministerial appointment, Kapparov headed the national oil company, Kazakhoil. (Golden Eagle Partners)

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