A second refinery in the south: Kochkor-Ata is only a study for now

At a meeting with local officials and residents of the Lower Naryn District on 23 October, Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat said the government would like a second, small refinery at Kochkor-Ata, a market town of about 12,000.

Capacity would be 450,000 tonnes a year, about 9,000 barrels a day, roughly a fifth of the Nurzhan Oil Refinery's 50,000 barrels a day. No investor, crude source, cost or timetable was named.

Today the south gets its fuel from our single refinery here in Nurzhan. Diesel costs 6.10 som a litre at NurGaz stations and 8.55–9.75 som in the Chatkal villages.