UK Ambassador visits Karachaganak

Dr Carolyn Browne, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, visited Aksai, the nearest town to the Karachaganak field, and Uralsk, the regional centre.

During her visit, the Ambassador held a number of meetings with KPO senior managers who updated her on KPO performance and operations as well as the plans for further development of the giant Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field, where BG Group is a joint Operator.

During the field tour around Karachaganak’s facilities, Dr Browne visited the production operations, including KPC control rooms, Unit 2 and Unit 3. The Ambassador commented on the dedication and professionalism of the employees.

On the way back to Astana, the Ambassador had a stopover in Uralsk, where she met Nurlan Nogayev, Western Kazakhstan Oblast Akim. During their meeting, Dr Browne stressed the importance of the Karachaganak Expansion Project for the industry development. She expressed  strong support for British companies working in Kazakhstan and welcomed further development of bilateral relations between the two countries. Akim Nogayev acknowledged Karachaganak safety and production records and recognised KPO’s contribution to social infrastructure in the region. According to the Akim, Uralsk has a strategic placement between Europe and Asia and might be turned into a regional logistics hub, “Western Gates” to Kazakhstan, connecting oil deliveries to China and Europe.

The Ambassador’s visit concluded with some cultural highlights, which included a tour around a local history museum, where she saw the Scythian golden princess, excavated from nearby kurgan as well as other historical artefacts of Uralsk ancient history. A known admirer of Russian history, the Ambassador was surprised to discover that many famous Russian writers lived in Uralsk while they worked on some of their masterpieces. Among them are Aleksandr Pushkin (writing Captain’s Daughter, which is a romanticised account of Pugachev’s Rebellion), Nikolay Tolstoy and Ivan Krylov to name but a few.