Oil Sector of Kazakhstan Recovers After Energy Blackout
And in Mangistau – again an accident at the MNPP power unit.
At the Mangistau nuclear power plant in the Kazakh city of Aktau, on the evening of July 6, the power unit was turned off again. The Devon news agency learned about this from a message from the press service of the MAEC. Now the thermal power plant is preparing for the repair of the power unit. Work is scheduled to begin on July 8 after midnight, as it takes more than 24 hours to cool the power unit’s boiler.
There were no restrictions on electricity and water supply for the residents of Mangistau. This time it was possible to prevent an energy collapse. It is noteworthy that this incident occurred on July 6, that is, 12 hours after the completion of repairs at power unit No. 1. He was included in the work at 5:51 in the morning.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s oil sector is recovering from a blackout on Monday. So, on July 6, the production of petroleum products at the Atyrau Oil Refinery resumed, Devon news agency learned from a message from the press service of the enterprise. The plant emergency shut down on the evening of July 3 due to a complete cessation of external power supply. To prevent an accident, the fuel network of the Atyrau Refinery was directed to the flare system.
The plant is currently operating normally. All units of the plant have been brought to normal operation, with the exception of the delayed coking unit. Ultrasonic inspection cleans equipment clogged due to an emergency stop. The unit is designed to produce raw coke. This does not affect the volume of oil refining and the production of other oil products, according to ANPZ LLP. It is planned to launch ultrasonic testing by July 9.
At the same time, the Atyrau Oil Refinery did not stop the shipment of socially significant oil products. From July 1 to July 6, the enterprise shipped 24,000 tons of 92 motor gasoline, 9,000 tons of AI-95 gasoline, 40,000 tons of diesel fuel and 3,000 tons of jet fuel from stocks.
Atyrau Oil Refinery is one of three oil refineries in Kazakhstan. It was launched in 1945. The owner of the refinery is the national company “KazMunayGas”. The design processing capacity of the Atyrau refinery is 5.5 million tons per year, the processing depth is 86.4%.
The enterprise also produces liquefied hydrocarbon gases, jet fuel, vacuum gas oil, heating oil, fuel oil, marine fuel, industrial sulfur, paraxylene, benzene, etc. The Atyrau Oil Refinery is the only petrochemical producer in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, the Caspian Oil Consortium did not restrict the acceptance of oil from suppliers, despite problems with energy supply in Kazakhstan. According to the company, the equipment of CPC facilities is intact. All oil pumping stations are operating normally.
As early as July 5, CPC representatives reported that the consequences of the accident on the power grids of Western Kazakhstan had not been completely eliminated. So, the head oil pumping station Tengiz was stopped. This PS continued to receive oil from Tengizchevroil (TCO), nur.kz reported.
OPS Atyrau and Isatai stopped receiving oil due to voltage drop. After voltage stabilization, the objects were restarted. PS “Tengiz” – the starting point of the route of the oil pipeline “Tengiz – Novorossiysk”. The station was put into operation in 1989.
The underfunding of Kazakhstan’s energy sector is systemic, said Talgat TEMIRKHANOV, Chairman of the Kazakhstan Electricity Association. Energy consumption in the country is growing every year, the Zona.Kz portal quotes him as saying. Lack of proper financing of the industry hinders the growth of capacities. All this directly affects the further economic growth in the country.
According to Temirkhanov, the underfunding of the industry led to a number of accidents in the past heating season. Major utility accidents were in Ekibastuz, Ridder, Stepnogorsk, Arkalyk and Balkhash
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has repeatedly mentioned the need to create a new model for the development of the electricity and heat energy market. Additional investments in the industry should be attracted. However, the regulator has not yet approved applications for setting a fair level of heat tariffs for a number of companies.
