Kazakhstan's energy ministry is in talks with the US over developing the country's coal sector and other ways to maintain energy security, according to an official Kazakh government release.
Kazakh energy minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov today met the US ambassador to Kazakhstan, Julie Stufft, to discuss increasing co-operation between the two countries in the energy sector.
Discussions included ways in which Kazakhstan can develop its coal processing and expand "clean coal" technologies to boost the efficiency of coal-fired generation and reduce environmental impacts.
The parties also discussed partnerships with US firms, including oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil, to develop oil and gas projects at three of the country's major producing fields — Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak.
Other topics for discussion were how to maintain stable export routes from Kazakhstan and developing projects to produce ammonia, urea, synthetic gas and diesel.
Kazakhstan has in the past year received investment from China and Russia to develop its coal sector, but the meeting today marked the first sign of official interest from the US in the rapidly growing Kazakh sector.
Global energy security concerns have been pushed to the fore by the US/Israel-Iran war, with oil and gas supplies from the Mideast Gulf disrupted by the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz.
Kazakhstan has been focusing on ways to utilise its 33bn t of coal reserves as part of the country's national project to expand coal-fired power capacity starting this year.
