Kazakhstan’s Kondensat oil refinery will process Russian crude and ship the resulting gasoline and diesel fuel back to Russia, said Erlan Aqkenjenov, head of Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry.
Aqkenjenov said a Russian company owns 50% of the refinery, though he did not name it. He said Kazakhstan’s authorities received an official letter from Russia’s Energy Ministry “regarding the loading of this refinery with Russian oil.”
“I don’t see any obstacles. Because 30% of the gasoline and diesel fuel produced will remain in Kazakhstan, and the rest will go to the Russian Federation. We’ve reached this agreement. As far as I understand, there are no sanctions,” Aqkenjenov was quoted as saying by the Kazakhstani news outlet Kapital.
The Kondensat refinery was built at the Karachaganak field to supply diesel fuel and gasoline to West Kazakhstan Region and had a capacity of 850,000 metric tons (937,000 tons) per year by 2017, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
Russia has faced a new wave of fuel shortages since August, when Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russian oil refineries. Gasoline and diesel fuel are now scarce in many regions, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, and prices have risen sharply at the stations that still have fuel.
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