Gas flows from Karachaganak to Orenburg plant resume after drone attackThe Orenburg gas processing plant in Russia has resumed accepting natural gas from Kazakhstan's giant Karachaganak field following a drone attack over the weekend, Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said Wednesday."Gas acceptance has begun, at a rate of 200,000 cubic meters per hour, and we will gradually restore operations; everything seems to be in order," Akkenzhenov told reporters. "We will also restore production at the field since gas acceptance has already started."The plant had temporarily halted intake of raw gas from Karachaganak after an emergency caused by a drone attack on Oct. 19.Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry stated that the incident did not affect the country's domestic gas supply, which continued to be delivered to consumers without interruption.The Orenburg gas processing plant is a key facility for handling Kazakh gas. The Russian company Gazprom and Kazakhstan's KazMunayGaz have collaborated since 2002 through KazRosGas, a joint commercial venture established to purchase gas from the Karachaganak field, process it at the Orenburg plant, and sell it to consumers in both countries. A long-term gas sales agreement for Karachaganak gas, signed in 2007 and extended in 2015, runs until 2038.Early Sunday, the governor of Russia's Orenburg region, Yevgeny Solntsev, reported the drone attack on the plant, which resulted in a fire in a workshop and partial damage to infrastructure.The Karachaganak field is one of the world's largest, with estimated reserves of 1.2 billion tonnes of oil and 1.35 trillion cubic meters of gas. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX