Demand for petrol is growing in Kazakhstan. According to experts, the country will find it difficult to provide the necessary volume on its own due to a number of factors.
As reported by the Telegram channel “Oil and Gas of Kazakhstan”, in October Kazakhstan will be able to resume importing AI-92 petrol from Russia. According to traders, demand for petrol traditionally rises from the end of summer. In August, consumption of AI-92 grew by 10%, and AI-95 by almost 30%.
Furthermore, in September, according to the Ministry of Energy, three refineries plan to supply 397.5 thousand tonnes of AI-92 to the domestic market, compared with 404.5 thousand tonnes in August.
At the same time, from 1 October, the Atyrau Refinery will go into scheduled maintenance. According to experts, all these factors could lead to a petrol shortage.
“Kazakhstan has not imported large batches of Russian petrol since 2020, although the indicative balance, which regulates duty-free supplies of petroleum products within the EAEU, permits the supply of 240 thousand tonnes of Russian petrol to Kazakhstan without charging duties. As is known, attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries have led to a decrease in fuel production volumes. This, in turn, forced the government to ban the export of petrol outside the Russian Federation until November.”, the message states.
It is noted that Kazakh importers may face a situation where Russian producers will primarily meet the needs of the domestic market.
Recall that in July last year it was reported, that Kazakhstan was experiencing a shortage of AI-95 petrol, which was confirmed by the Minister of Energy Almasadam Satkaliyev. At the time, he noted that the resulting deficit could become a subject of speculation. Unlike AI-92 and diesel fuel, the state does not regulate prices for AI-95. However, the official assured that Kazakhstan would purchase fuel from abroad and would control its distribution across the regions.