Chevron Corporation , through its subsidiary Chevron Munaigas , and JSC NC “KazMunayGas” have announced a memorandum of understanding  to explore potential lower carbon business opportunities in Kazakhstan.

Chevron and KMG plan to evaluate the potential for lower carbon projects in areas such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage ; hydrogen; energy efficiency and methane management; and carbon financial disclosure methodology.

The MoU was signed by Derek Magness, managing director for Chevron’s Eurasian Business Unit, and Magzum Mirzagaliyev, chairman of the Management Board of KMG, in Nur-Sultan on the eve of the 34th Plenary session of the Foreign Investors Council chaired by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Chevron’s executive vice president of Upstream Jay Johnson.

“At the UN Climate Ambition Summit, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made a statement about Kazakhstan’s intention to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. KazMunayGas, in its turn, has set a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by 15 percent by 2031 compared to 2019 levels and is going to take further actions under the Paris Agreement and Kazakhstan’s Doctrine of Carbon Neutral Development. However, lower carbon is a new area for us, and we believe that Chevron’s wide experience in implementing lower carbon technologies and practices in the oil and gas industry will contribute to our capabilities and lead to joint lower carbon projects. We highly appreciate the partnership that has developed over the years of Chevron’s presence in our country,” Mirzagaliyev said.

“Chevron has been investing in Kazakhstan for close to three decades. We are proud of our history of partnership and are committed to investing in the country’s energy future. This MoU with KazMunayGas marks a new chapter in our company’s efforts to support the development of Kazakhstan’s energy sector,” Magness said. “We firmly believe that we can play an important role in the country’s energy transition and achievement of its carbon-reduction targets. Through our collaboration with KMG, we hope to contribute to providing affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy, and help the industries and customers who use our products to advance their lower carbon goals.”

“Chevron knows the future of energy is lower carbon and achieving the global net zero ambitions of the Paris Agreement will require partnership and collaboration,” said Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies, which was launched in 2021 to focus on establishing lower carbon businesses in CCUS, hydrogen, renewable fuels, offsets, and other emerging areas. “We are excited about the opportunity to pursue these lower carbon opportunities with KazMunayGas and help advance the energy transition in Kazakhstan.”

The collaboration between Chevron and KMG is part of the efforts from both companies to support Kazakhstan’s target vision to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.