The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan will put 56 oil and gas fields up for electronic auction on December 25, 2026—exactly half of the 112 blocks planned for implementation by the end of the year, the ministry said on September 23.
The most direct exchange-traded expression of Kazakhstan’s oil expansion is the Brent crude oil futures contract (ICE: BRN), since Kazakhstan exports crude via the CPC Pipeline corridor and directly competes with other exporters in the Urals/CPC Blend price niche; in the longer term, new licenses may affect the positions of TotalEnergies (NYSE: TTE), which holds a stake in the Kashagan consortium, and Shell (NYSE: SHEL), which is involved in the Karachaganak project— the largest foreign operators that are traditionally active in Kazakhstan’s projects.
The auction will take place on the eQazyna platform, and the submission of applications will end on 18 November inclusive, leaving potential participants less than two months to prepare their document package. Of the 56 lots, 52 are intended for exploration and production of hydrocarbons, and the remaining four are exclusively for production at specific fields: Akshiy in the Atyrau Region, Emir and Zhangurshi in the Mangystau Region, and also Kumkol East in the Ulytau Region.
Among the four production lots, the most expensive in terms of the starting signature bonus is Zhangurshi: 220.27 million tenge (about $490,000 at the current exchange rate) for an area of 8.61 sq. km. For comparison, the largest exploration areas are offered with significantly more modest bonuses: Ustyurt No. 4 in the Mangystau Region (4,058.53 sq. km) starts at 71.67 million tenge, Karabas in the East Kazakhstan Region (4,045.47 sq. km) at 75.38 million tenge.
The winners of the auction assume strict operational obligations. Within a year after signing the contract, they must prepare a project for exploration activities; within three years, they must carry out 2D seismic surveys; and within four years, they must drill at least one well. A separate local-content quota is set: at least 70% for work and services and 30% for goods. These conditions raise the entry threshold for foreign players and create sustained demand for Kazakh contractors.
Context matters. According to EY data, in the first half of 2026, oil and petroleum products accounted for 46.5% of Kazakhstan’s merchandise exports, and production in 2027 is planned at 96 million tons. The December auction fits into a systemic policy of expanding electronic trading: since 2020, the process has been fully automated, and the eQazyna platform was launched in 2025 as a unified digital environment for managing the subsurface. Some of the lots being offered, according to sources, are blocks that were withdrawn from operators that violated their contractual obligations: from 2022 through the second quarter of 2026, the state terminated 11 oil and gas contracts due to systematic failure to meet the terms.
The remaining 56 blocks from the overall plan across 112 lots are also expected to be implemented by the end of 2026; however, the exact dates for putting them up for auction have not yet been announced. For investors considering participation in the December auction, they should focus on the deadline of 18 November: this date will determine the final list of participants and, accordingly, the competitiveness of bidding for each of the 56 lots.