BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 23. Kazakhstan will
make a decision on the capacity and location for the construction
of a fourth oil refinery by the end of 2026, the government’s press
service reported.


The corresponding instruction was issued by Prime Minister
Olzhas Bektenov following a government meeting in Astana on
September 23.


During the meeting, Vice Minister of Energy Kaiyrkhan
Tutkyshbayev reported on the work underway to assess the
construction of the fourth refinery. According to the Ministry of
Energy, Kazakhstan’s long-term need for oil refining capacity could
reach around 40 million tons per year.


“The Prime Minister instructed to complete a comprehensive
assessment and make final decisions by the end of the current year
regarding the construction of the fourth refinery, including
determining its optimal capacity, configuration, feedstock base,
location and economic model,” the government said.


Participants in the meeting were also given a number of
instructions aimed at increasing the production capacity of the oil
refining sector to meet domestic market needs in the medium and
long term.


Relevant government bodies and organizations were instructed to
closely monitor projects to expand oil refining capacity, prevent
delays and ensure the timely commissioning of facilities.
Particular attention was also given to further increasing the depth
of oil refining in line with growing domestic demand for petroleum
products.







“Expanding oil refining capacity is directly linked to the
attractiveness of fuel prices in the domestic market. In the
current situation, when gasoline and diesel prices in Kazakhstan
are twice as low as in neighboring countries, investments in oil
refining are economically unfeasible. Therefore, we need to
actively continue market liberalization. This is a matter of
economic security,” Bektenov said.


In May 2026, Kazakhstan announced the launch of work on a
preliminary feasibility study for the fourth refinery project. The
planned large-scale facility is expected to have an oil processing
capacity of up to 10 million tons per year.


The government's meeting also noted that the implementation of
expansion projects at Kazakhstan’s three existing oil refineries
will increase their combined processing capacity from 17.5 million
to 28.8 million tons per year.


The Shymkent Refinery’s capacity is planned to increase from 6
million to 12 million tons per year by 2030, while the Pavlodar
Petrochemical Plant is expected to raise capacity from 6 million to
9 million tons by 2031. At the Atyrau Refinery, an efficiency
improvement project is expected to increase capacity from 5.5
million to 6.1 million tons by 2027.


As a result, Kazakhstan plans to increase its total oil refining
capacity to around 40 million tons per year in the long term.