QazaqGaz requests government to gradually increase wholesale gas pricesThe national company QazaqGaz is pushing for a phased liberalization of wholesale gas prices, as the current average wholesale price of 22,037 tenge per 1,000 m³ does not cover its actual cost of 33,742 tenge, stated Nursultan Yesmukhan, Director of the Price Policy and Monitoring Department of the company.“We are asking the government to align our purchase and transportation costs with the wholesale price. Currently, the gap exceeds 30%. We understand this cannot be resolved in one year. Therefore, a phased price increase is necessary. I believe both the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of National Economy support this,” Yesmukhan said during a roundtable discussion on reforming natural gas pricing.The company representative noted that delaying this decision could lead QazaqGaz to a cash shortage and an inability to meet financial obligations within three years.According to the speaker, the company incurs annual losses of 200 billion tenge due to the disparity between costs and the average wholesale price. Data presented at the roundtable revealed that QazaqGaz’s annual losses surged after prices were reduced in 2019, coinciding with an 80% increase in consumption over the past decade. The company’s cumulative losses reportedly amount to 1.1 trillion tenge.The idea of gradually raising wholesale gas prices was also supported by other roundtable participants, including Rasul Rysmambetov, Director of the National Analytical Center at Nazarbayev University, and analyst Marat Shibutov. Shibutov stated that the real wholesale price of gas should be 70,000–75,000 tenge per 1,000 m³.Financial expert Rysmambetov agreed that current prices are unsustainable and expose the company to currency risks.Earlier, former Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliev indicated that the first increase in commercial gas prices is expected this summer. As previously reported, the Ministry of Energy has drafted amendments to regulations on setting price caps for commercial and liquefied petroleum gas. Under the changes, maximum wholesale prices for commercial gas will be adjusted within a calendar year, ranging from 20% to 33% based on the national arithmetic average.QazaqGaz is a portfolio company of the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund. The company manages centralized infrastructure for gas transportation via main pipelines and distribution networks, ensures international transit, sells gas domestically and internationally, and develops, finances, constructs, and operates pipelines and gas storage facilities. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX