Kazakhstan LPG output hits new high

Kazakhstan's LPG production increased by 81,000t to a record high of 3.2mn t in 2019, the country's energy ministry says. Output rose at the 160,000 b/d Chimkent refinery in south Kazakhstan, and following the opening of a new gas processing plant in the Aktobe region. Chimkent produced 295,200t of LPG in 2019, up from 168,700t the previous year, as a result of the plant processing 5.4mn t of crude against 4.7mn t in 2018. Domestic LPG production is expected to edge higher again this year after local firm Nostrum Oil and Gas started up a 2.5bn m³/yr gas processing plant at the end of last year. The firm is developing the Chinarevskoye oil and gas field in northwest Kazakhstan.