Kazakhstan intends to increase profitability of oil and gas industry

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The fall of the national currency - tenge has not affected the strategic plans of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, Deputy Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Uzakbai Karabalin said during a press conference in the Central Communication Service, a statement posted on the service's website says.

"The current activities are being implemented according to the plans and on time," he said. "The Ministry of Energy is working to ensure the planned volumes of raw material extraction and to preserve the jobs." The National Bank of Kazakhstan abolished the currency corridor for the exchange rate of the national currency - tenge August 20 and passed to the inflation targeting regime and a free floating exchange rate. As a result, the tenge exchange rate versus the dollar dropped by 26 percent, Kazinform refers to trend.az. "Some 53.4 million metric tons of oil or 99.4 percent of the planned index were produced in Kazakhstan during eight months of 2015," Karabalin said. Therefore, the production norms remain at the previous level, he added. "In the future, the development of the oil and gas sector will be directed towards meeting the domestic market's demands for oil products and gas, construction of new pipelines, diversification of export routes of oil transportation," said the deputy minister. The further development of Kazakhstan's oil and gas sphere will be ensured with the increase of reserves by discovering new fields, said Karabalin. These measures will facilitate the growth of the production volume, which in turn will make the oil and gas sphere more profitable, according to the deputy minister.