ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazakhstan will quickly adjust its oil output in order to get back in line with its OPEC+ quota after exceeding the limit in February, the Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.
OPEC said earlier that Kazakhstan was the biggest contributor to a sizeable jump in February crude output by OPEC+. The Central Asian country produced 1.767 million barrels per day in February, up from 1.570 million bpd in January. Its OPEC+ quota is 1.468 million bpd.
“The Republic of Kazakhstan has taken the necessary measures to compensate for the temporary increase in production. In the near future, the volumes will be adjusted in such a way as to fully comply with the established limits,” it said.
In a statement, it reiterated Kazakhstan’s full commitment to its agreement with OPEC+.
“At the same time, the current exceeding of quotas in February is due to technological processes within the Future Growth Project at the Tengiz field. This project is long-term and is aimed at ensuring stable supplies of energy resources, as well as fulfilling our medium-term commitments,” it said.
U.S. oil major Chevron has been expanding output at Tengiz, the country’s largest field.
The Kazakh energy ministry played down the country’s influence on the global market, saying it accounted for just 1.5% of world oil output and about 3% within OPEC+.
“These indicators demonstrate that Kazakhstan does not have a critical impact on the global balance of supply and demand, however, despite this, our country remains a reliable partner and fulfils its obligations.”
Kazakhstan will implement its future production plans “exclusively in strict accordance with the country’s international obligations and taking into account the situation on the world market”, the statement said.
(Reporting by Maria Gordeeva; writing by Mark Trevelyan;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
