According to Kazinform, the first vice president of KazMunayGas, Kurmangazy Iskaziyev, and Liu Bo, general manager of CNOOC's Russian and Central Asian projects, signed a joint activities agreement and a financing agreement.

The agreement document stipulates the terms of cooperation in the strategic partnership and joint implementation of the Zhylyoi underground resource development project in Kazakhstan. The project is located in the transition zone in the northeast of the Caspian Sea. According to preliminary assessments, this underground area contains more than 185 million tons of oil resources and has great commercial value.

This is the first time that CNOOC has invested in the economic field of Kazakhstan, and the first phase of cooperation started with geological exploration projects. The two parties will jointly implement the Zhylyoi project in a 50/50 equity ratio, and the funds for the exploration phase will be provided by CNOOC.

The planned geological exploration work program includes at least:

Implementation of 3D seismic exploration (field operations, data processing and interpretation) in an area of 400 square kilometers;

Completion of processing of 400 line kilometers of historical 2D data;

Drilling of a 2,000-meter deep supra-salt exploration well (independent phase);

Drilling of a 4,500-meter deep pre-salt exploration well based on the results of 3D seismic data (non-independent phase).

In August 2024, during a visit to China by Askhat Khassenov, Chairman of Kazakhstan's National Oil and Gas Company, Kazakhstan and China National Offshore Oil Corporation signed a geological exploration cooperation agreement. In October 2024, the two sides further clarified the main cooperation terms of the Zhylyoi project.(This article is from the official website of Jiandao www.seetao.com it may not be reproduced without permission, otherwise it must be investigated, please indicate Jiandao.com + original link) Jiandao.com strategic column editor / Sun Fengjuan