Kazakhstan will make a final decision on oil production cuts after the next joint OPEC+ meeting, the Central Asian country’s Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said on Wednesday.
Kazakhstan has persistently exceeded its output quota of 1.468 million barrels per day (bpd) under the production-curbing deal struck by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia – together known as OPEC+.
In response, Kazakhstan has pledged to make cuts to compensate for its overproduction until the end of June 2026.
It would be challenging for Kazakhstan to restrain oil production given its plans to raise it this year and as Chevron had started output at a $48 billion expansion of the giant Tengiz oilfield, which will bring the country’s output to around 1% of global crude supply.
Kazakhstan plans to boost its oil and gas condensate production this year to 96.2 million tons (around 2 million bpd) from 87.56 million tons in 2024.
Gas condensate, a type of light oil, is not included in the country’s OPEC+ quota.
A monitoring panel of OPEC+, which is holding back 5.86 million bpd of production, or about 5.7% of global demand, is set to meet next Monday amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for lower oil prices.
Oil prices have risen this year, with Brent crude reaching almost $83 a barrel on Jan. 15, its highest since August, supported by concern about the supply impact of U.S. sanctions on Russia. Prices were trading below $77 on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Tamara Vaal. Writing by Lucy Papachristou. Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Potter)