Kazakhstan gives OK to more oil work

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ALMATY, Kazakhstan, May 2 (UPI) -- The Kazakh government extended the terms of an oil exploration campaign in which production has increased 19 percent, Max Petroleum said.

Max focuses on oil and gas exploration in Kazakhstan. It said total production for the fiscal year ending March 31 was 3,366 barrels of oil per day, a 19 percent increase from the previous year.

Max said that production increase is in line with production goals. By next year, it said production could reach an average of 6,000 bpd.

The Kazakh Ministry of Oil and Gas ratified a two-year extension for the company's exploration campaign. Max said the extension is the final regulatory step needed to start trial production at the country's Asanketken field.

"Moving Asanketken onto trial production will also add a substantial boost to our current production rate of 2,200 bpd (from the site)," Max President Michael Young said in a statement.

Max aims to bring Asanketken to full development status by 2014. As of last year, the company said there were around 1.4 million barrels of proven oil reserves there.

Kazakhstan hosts the Kashagan oil field, one of the largest in the world, with as much as 16 billion barrels of estimated commercial reserves.