Drilling is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, and a decision on commercial development will be made based on the results of the work by May 2030. This is stated in a message from the Telegram channel "Oil and Gas of Kazakhstan".

The essence in brief

• The company received the right to subsurface use under contract No. 5427 dated January 8, 2025 following an auction; the area of the site is 940.2 sq. km.
• The project envisages the restoration of three previously drilled wells and the drilling of two new ones, resulting in a stock of four production wells.
• Pilot operation and reserve evaluation are planned from May 1, 2027 to May 1, 2030; commercial development is not yet being discussed.
• Public hearings on the environmental impact report will be held on November 27, 2026 in the village of Aktay.

What the company plans at the site

The contract territory covers the large salt-dome structures Chingiz and Telsu. The company will restore three previously drilled exploration and appraisal wells (R-1, G-8 and R-12), and will drill one advance production well and one exploration well. As a result, it is planned to form a stock of four production wells; drilling is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027.

When the issue of commercial development will be decided

Full-scale commercial development is not yet being discussed. Pilot operation and reserve evaluation work, based on the results of which a conclusion will be made on the technical and economic feasibility of development, as well as the fulfillment of all conditions for transition to the commercial stage, are planned to be carried out from May 1, 2027 to May 1, 2030.

What is known about the field itself and the company

According to National Business Kazakhstan, the field was discovered in 1969, and geological exploration there was completed in 2011. Oil reserves are estimated at 2 million tonnes in category C1 and 9.3 million tonnes in category C2; investments in geological exploration of the site amounted to $15 million. "RV-Oil&Gas" is part of the R1 Energy Group holding, which is controlled by Farkhat and Farukh Abdukhalilov, and the company obtained subsurface user status in 2024. The site is located approximately 320 km from Uralsk and 50 km from the village of Karatobe.

What will be discussed at the public hearings

The hearings on the environmental impact report for the pilot operation project will be held on November 27, 2026 at 15:00 at the House of Culture in the village of Aktay, approximately 10 km from the proposed work site, and will be available online. This is stated in the announcement of the Regional Department of Natural Resources and Nature Management. The documentation can be reviewed at the National Environmental Data Bank (ndbecology.gov.kz); comments are accepted no later than three working days before the hearings.

What remains unknown

The production volumes during the pilot operation stage, the amount of investment in the project, and where the produced oil will be directed have not been reported. The name of the field is written differently in the sources: "Chingiz" and "Chingis-Telsu."

What is happening with oil in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's oil reserves are estimated at approximately 29.8 billion barrels, according to the Eni World Energy Review 2026 report. A consortium will search for new reserves in the Caspian region: KazMunayGas is creating one with Shell, Chevron, Sinopec and CNOOC for 2D seismic surveys over 60 thousand linear km and subsequent drilling. The main route for oil exports remains the same: through the CPC, 64.8 million tonnes were shipped in 2025, and the Ministry of Energy named four more export routes.

Author's conclusion

Three years of pilot operation on a stock of four wells looks more like a reserve verification than production. The decision on the commercial stage will depend on whether the wells confirm the C2 category reserves: these account for 9.3 million tonnes, and this is the less-studied part of the estimate. The first public test of the project will be the hearings in Aktay on November 27.