One of the most important components of the company’s sustainable development strategy is environmental responsibility. The Environmental Policy, which embodies the Company’s dedication to the concepts of sustainable development, governs environmental protection (EP). The main responsibilities of the company are outlined in the document: reducing negative environmental impact (NEI); pursuing resource conservation policies; taking all reasonable steps to preserve biodiversity and the climate; compensating for potential environmental damage; and guaranteeing compliance with environmental standards and requirements established by international legal acts in the field of environmental protection and Republic of Kazakhstan legislation.

Because of its advantages for the environment, natural gas is crucial to reaching the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. It also helps Kazakhstan’s economy grow in a low-carbon manner. The business places a high priority on increasing energy efficiency, lowering air emissions, generating and disposing of less waste from production and consumption, and protecting biodiversity and the environment.

The Company understands the extent of its accountability for preserving environmental equilibrium when it comes to carrying out investment initiatives. There is work done in a number of areas: programs are put in place to preserve biodiversity in the Company’s area of responsibility; new technology solutions are employed to reduce the impact of production activities on the natural environment; and environmental monitoring is done continuously.

Support for environmental projects

Eco-friendly and inexpensive gas instead of diesel

The National Gas Company thinks that the infrastructure for the sale of gas motor fuel, such as LNG and compressed natural gas (CNG), can assist lessen Kazakhstan’s diesel fuel shortfall. In contrast, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan reports that the country uses roughly 5.5 million tons of diesel fuel annually. While the usage of diesel fuel is three times lower in Kazakhstan’s neighbor, Uzbekistan, which has twice as many people as Kazakhstan. The reason for this discrepancy is the dynamic growth of the gas motor fuel industry in Uzbekistan. There are 1,440 car gas filling compressor stations (also known as CNG filling stations) in Uzbekistan compared to just 18 in Kazakhstan, an 80-fold increase in comparison.

In addition, the price of gas motor fuel is 119 tenge/m3 as opposed to 295 tenge/l (one liter of diesel fuel is equivalent to one meter of natural gas). Kazaneft LLP intends to construct two additional liquefied natural gas production plants, raise the number of CNG filling stations in Kazakhstan to 32, and negotiate the expansion of the natural gas-powered bus fleet. The number of jobs in the industry will rise to 245 and in connected areas to 1000 if the target indicators are met.

By building fixed and mobile CNG filling stations on the important international and national highways, Kazaneft LLP intends to connect cities where CNG filling stations are already present and further stimulate the gas motor fuel industry. These routes are the Astana-Almaty route, the Beineu-Uralsk route, and the Western Europe-Western China route. Even in the best-case scenario, 3.3 billion m3 of methane—or 15% of Kazakhstan’s total gas consumption—will be needed if 50% of the demand for diesel fuel is substituted with the gas.

At the moment, Kazaneft LLP is establishing the standard for the expansion of the network of CNG filling stations and drawing foreign transit that runs on gas motor fuel. Because gas is less expensive than diesel, switching to gas for international and intercity travel will result in a significant reduction in transportation expenses. This will therefore have an impact on the total cost of the carried items. In the future, switching to gas motor fuel will be feasible for railway, river, and sea transportation, as well as for heavy quarry and agricultural machinery, thanks to the development of a network of CNG filling stations on Kazakhstan’s highways.