That country is, of course, Kazakhstan. Today, it is the most important, most influential, most stable and most prosperous of all the Central Asian countries due mainly to the able, prudent, wise and balanced leadership and policies of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.Nazarbayev, who visited Turkey this week and concluded many significant agreements, has made use of his country’s resources and its important geo-political position wisely to make Kazakhstan a rising power.
Kazakhstan today is indeed a rising power in several ways. First of all it is a rising energy power because of its enormous oil wealth. The crude oil from the giant Tengiz field is exported through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) line to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and from there with tankers to the international oil markets. On average 30 million tons of Kazakh crude oil reach the global oil market annually. That is a considerable amount, of course. However, not satisfied with this amount Kazakhstan aims to increase this to 50 million in the near future and ultimately to 67 million by 2012.
In terms of natural gas Kazakhstan is known to have 2 trillion cubic meters in proven reserves and also intends to produce a great deal of gas as a consequence of deposits overlaying its oil extraction plants. Super projects such as the Kashagan program could well produce “waste” natural gas in the billions of cubic meters.
Due to its enormous oil and gas wealth many countries have been trying to foster close energy relations with it. From Russia to China, to Iran and Europe Union, to the US and Turkey, leading countries are anxious to conclude energy deals with it. In this regard, France concluded important oil, gas and nuclear deals with Kazakhstan worth more than $6 billion only two weeks ago. Furthermore, before his visit to Turkey, Nazarbayev reiterated his support for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline by increasing the supply of Kazakh oil.
In addition to its oil and gas wealth Kazakhstan is also a rising power in uranium production. It has the second-largest reserves in the world after Australia. In 2007 it produced more than 6,600 tons. In 2008 it was 8,525 tons. This year it will increase that number even more. In fact, it will increase production by 40 percent in 2009 according to Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Sauat Mynbayev, who told members of Parliament earlier this year that production would top 11,900 tons in 2009, compared to 8,525 tons last year.
It plans to become the world’s largest exporter of uranium in 2010 by producing in excess of 15,400 annually. Two new mines, Khorasan-1 and Khorasan-2, are slated to open later this year to realize the planned boost in production. Given the renaissance of nuclear energy and the ongoing building of new nuclear energy plants, the increasing importance of Kazakh uranium will certainly add to its already high international clout.
The third obvious factor in the rise of Kazakhstan is its enormous agricultural potential. According to the official figures of the Ministry of Agriculture, the country has 222 million hectares of agricultural land, principally in the country’s north and east. The majority is used as pasture land and the rest is cultivated. Two-thirds of this agricultural land is used for cereals and one-third for fodder crops.
Among the crops cereals dominate the agricultural exports of the country. In this respect, Kazakhstan aims to become one of the world’s largest “breadbaskets” and for this reason has been continuously increasing its rate of production. In 2004, production was 9 million tons. It reached 19 million tons in 2006, and then it kept increasing. Kazakhstan was only the 14th largest world exporter of cereals in 2006. Today it ranks as the world’s sixth and plans to become the fifth in the coming years.
To sum up, with its energy and agricultural potential, Kazakhstan is undeniably a rising power.
