Kazakhstan holds energy cooperation talks with US officials

Kazakhstan's energy ministry said on Friday that it had held talks on energy cooperation with the US Department of Energy and the US embassy in the Central Asian country, which is a major energy producer, accounting for around two per cent of daily oil supply.

In a statement posted on social media, the ministry said that the two sides had discussed, "the implementation of Kazakhstan's strategic priorities in the oil and gas industry". US oil companies including Chevron and ExxonMobil have stakes in Kazakhstan's oilfields.

The country's production sharply decreased in recent weeks, after incidents at the Tengiz field took it offline for seven to ten days.

Drone strikes on tankers and onshore infrastucture serving the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which carries the bulk of Kazakhstan's oil exports for loading at the Russian port of Novorossiysk, have further impacted production.

Washington has in recent months been deepening ties with Kazakhstan, with US President Donald Trump inviting his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to join his Board of Peace initiative, and to attend the G20 in Miami in December 2026.

Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama