Commenting on 2013 performance results, Damiano Ratti, KPO General Director, said: “I am pleased to announce that KPO has improved our indicators in the area of safety performance in 2013 and has achieved further reduction of our lost time incident rates as compared to 2012. This significant achievement, comparable to the best word-class performance within the Oil & Gas Producer’s (OGP) Association, testifies KPO personnel’s commitment to advanced practices and standards in the area of safety, health and environmental protection”.
“KPO actively promotes a culture of production, where the safety compliance liability rests with each employee of the Company. Our aim is to continuously improve its performance through compliance with HSE standards, managing workplace risks and careful planning and monitoring of our operations”, — said Damiano Ratti.
“In 2013 KPO produced 136.3 million barrels of oil equivalent of stabilised and unstabilised liquid hydrocarbons, gas and fuel gas. Above that 8.57 billion cubic meters of sour dry gas were re-injected, a volume equivalent to approximately 49% of the total volume of produced gas”, — said Mr. Ratti.
“As of today, KPO’s partners have invested about $ 17.6 billion into the development of the Karachaganak field, whilst direct payments into the RoK budget have reached $ 10.3 billion”, — noted Damiano Ratti.
The Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field is one of the largest and most complex fields to operate in Kazakhstan. Currently, there are 95 production and 17 sour gas re-injection wells in operation at the Karachaganak field, out of a total of 379 wells.
“KPO remains committed to the priorities, specified by the RoK Government in terms of sustainable development. This objective is achieved through infrastructure improvement, exemplary environmental performance, wide-scale social initiatives and the development of local capacity”, — said Damiano Ratti.
“KPO fully supports initiatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan regarding transition to ‘a green economy’. In 2013, the gas utilisation rate at Karachaganak totalled 99.84%, which is a world class achievement. The volume of flared gas was a mere 0.16% of the total volume of gas produced, or 0.94 tonnes per thousand tonnes of extracted raw materials. The comparison of these figures with averages achieved by international and European oil and gas companies demonstrates KPO’s leadership in this area. Overall, since 1998, KPO’s investments into environmental activities have exceeded $ 275.2 million”, — said Damiano Ratti.
Emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air from KPO industrial facilities operation are monitored by an automatic data collection and environmental monitoring system installed at the field, as well as at the borders of the sanitary protection zone. In addition, KPO monitors the air quality in the areas adjacent to the Karachaganak field.
“As the largest employer in the region, KPO is fulfilling its obligations for the protection of its employees’ health and for the creation of long-term jobs with highly competitive salaries. Besides, KPO implements programmes that are focused on professional development of local employees”, — added Damiano Ratti.
As a result of KPO’s nationalisation programme, at present local employees occupy 100% of skilled and clerical positions, 94% of professional and supervisory roles, and 68% of positions at the managerial level.
Generally, in recent years KPO has invested more than $ 178 million into training and development of Kazakhstani professionals.
“KPO is one of the first companies in Kazakhstan to successfully introduce a local content programme, which has allowed involving more than three thousand Kazakhstani companies into the development of Karachaganak. These companies have received orders from KPO for over $ 4 billion”, — added Damiano Ratti.
In 2013, the local content share in KPO contracts for the supply of goods and services reached 50.15% or $ 461.1 million in monetary term.
As Damiano Ratti noted, “While delivering its operation commitments, KPO as a responsible corporate citizen, aims at providing effective use of the Karachaganak field potential in order to achieve maximum social and economic benefits for the local communities and the Republic of Kazakhstan as a whole”.
KPO’s efforts in the development of the region’s social infrastructure have been recognized at the National Competition for Social Responsibility “Paryz”, where KPO has won several prestigious awards, including the 2013 Silver Paryz Award in the Best Social Project category.
