Over $82 million has been invested in hydrocarbon exploration, according to the Ministry of Energy.

“This year, two electronic auctions were held, resulting in the sale of 15 plots. The final amount of the signing bonus reached 32.7 billion tenge, of which 9.1 billion tenge has been received by the budget to date. Investments in geological exploration amounted to 82.5 million dollars. Additionally, 56 exploration project notifications, approved by the subsoil user, were submitted,” said Akkenzhenov.

According to him, this has allowed each subsoil user to save approximately two months on the state examination of project documents. This has enabled subsoil users to commence fieldwork more rapidly.

Overall, according to the ministry's data, during the first nine months of 2024, subsoil users invested 4.3 trillion tenge, with 125.9 billion tenge allocated specifically for geological exploration.

The vice minister reminded that thanks to the amendments made, three contracts for complex projects were signed in 2024 with the national company “KazMunayGas” for the exploration of the Karazhar site. In order to expedite the development of deposits, a transition from exploration to assessment was made under one contract, and from exploration to production under ten contracts.