The Kazakh government has lowered its forecast for oil and gas condensate production for this year to 67.6 million metric tons, or 1.35 million barrels a day, from 70 million tons, the economy minister said Wednesday, according to Kazakhstan Today news agency.
Economy and Budget Planning Minister Bakhyt Sultanov was quoted as saying that the decline of production was due to repair works and a lower rate of production in the first four months of this year.
He also said the government's forecast for an average price of oil on the world markets has been raised to $95 a barrel from $65 a barrel.
Kazakhstan plans to raise its oil production to 2.6 million-3 million barrels a day by 2015.