Kazakhstan plans to double oil production by 2015

LONDON, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan intends to double oil production by 2015 up to 120-130 million metric tons (about 880-950 million bbl) per year, a Kazakh energy and mineral resources vice minister said on Tuesday.

"We plan to produce 70-80 million tons of oil annually by 2010 and to increase production to 120-130 million by 2015. The figures are not insignificant," Lyazzat Kiinov said.

He said last year Kazakhstan produced 67.2 million tons of oil, exported 60.6 million tons and refined about 12 million tons.

"Kazakhstan is turning into a large global oil exporter," he said.

After Russia, Kazakhstan is the second largest oil producer among former Soviet republics. The Central Asian state's oil extraction last year increased 3.7%, year-on-year, totaling 67.2 million tons.