CCC/192 ISBN 978-92-9029-512-9

December 2011

copyright © IEA Clean Coal Centre

Abstract

The coal sector in Kazakhstan is said to have enough reserves to last over 100 years, but the

forecasted reserves are expected to last several hundreds of years. This makes investing in the fuel and

energy sector of the country an attractive option for many international and private organisations. The

proven on-shore reserves will ensure extraction for over 30 years for oil and 75 years for gas. The

future development of the domestic oil sector depends mainly on developing the Kazakh sector of the

Caspian Sea.

The coal sector, while not a top priority for the Kazakh government, puts the country among the

world’s top ten coal-rich countries. Kazakhstan contains Central Asia’s largest recoverable coal

reserves. In future, the development of the raw materials base will be achieved through enriching and

improving the quality of the coal and the deep processing of coal to obtain fluid fuel and synthetic

substances. Developing shale is also topical. The high concentration of methane in coal layers makes

it possible to extract it and utilise it on a large scale.

However, today the country’s energy sector, which was largely established in the Soviet times, has

reached its potential. Being alert to the impending problems, the government is planning to undertake

large-scale modernisation of the existing facilities and construct new ones during 2015-30.