PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP, universally abbreviated as PKOP, is the operating entity for Kazakhstan's third and most modern oil refinery, located in Shymkent, southern Kazakhstan. The company is incorporated as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP / ТОО) under Kazakhstani law and conducts oil refining operations on a joint venture basis, making it structurally distinct from the other two KMG refineries (Atyrau and Pavlodar), which are wholly state-owned. PKOP is jointly owned in equal shares by National Company KazMunayGas JSC (Kazakhstan) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) (China) — a 50/50 parity partnership that reflects Kazakhstan's strategic energy relationship with China.
PKOP produces approximately 30% of the total volume of petroleum products manufactured in Kazakhstan, making it the largest contributor to domestic fuel supply by output share among the three refineries.
Corporate Name History
The entity has operated under several names since its founding, reflecting successive ownership transitions:
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1985–1990s: Commissioned and operated as a Soviet state enterprise
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Late 1990s: Acquired by Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd. (Canada), which obtained an 88.4% stake in the entity, then registered as OJSC Shymkentnefteorgsintez
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2001: Hurricane Hydrocarbons renamed itself PetroKazakhstan Inc., and the refinery entity was renamed PetroKazakhstan Oil Products JSC (PKOP JSC)
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2005: CNPC acquired PetroKazakhstan Inc. in full for approximately $4.18 billion — at the time the largest-ever acquisition of a foreign-listed company by a Chinese corporation
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Post-2005: Following CNPC's acquisition, the Kazakhstani government exercised a pre-emption right, and the KMG Group acquired a 50% participation in PKOP, establishing the current 50/50 KMG-CNPC joint venture structure
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Current legal form: PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP (reflecting conversion from JSC to LLP structure)
Ownership Structure
Ownership History:
| Date |
Event |
| Mid-1999 – 2000 |
Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd. (Canada) acquires 88.4% of OJSC Shymkentnefteorgsintez (predecessor entity) |
| 2001 |
Hurricane Hydrocarbons renamed PetroKazakhstan Inc.; entity renamed PetroKazakhstan Oil Products JSC |
| 21 August 2005 |
CNPC agrees to acquire 100% of PetroKazakhstan Inc. for $4.18 billion, via CNPC International Ltd. (a subsidiary of CNODC). Transaction completed October 2005 — CNPC becomes 100% indirect owner of PKOP |
| 15 October 2005 |
As a condition of the acquisition, CNPC agrees under Kazakhstani law to sell back 33% of PetroKazakhstan Inc. to KazMunayGas |
| 5 July 2006 |
KMG completes purchase of 33% of PetroKazakhstan Inc. from CNPC |
| 6 July 2007 |
KMG acquires 50% of shares in Valsera Holding BV (the intermediate Dutch holding company that directly owns the PKOP participatory interest), bringing KMG's effective stake in PKOP to 50% |
| 16 November 2006 |
Formal signing of the Umbrella and Share Purchase Agreement and Shareholders Agreement between NC KazMunayGas JSC and CNPC International for the 50/50 PKOP joint venture structure |
| 2014 onwards |
PKOP operates and is publicly described as a parity 50/50 joint venture between NC KazMunayGas JSC / KMG R&M and CNPC |
Today, PKOP LLP is owned on a 50/50 basis by two corporate groups:
This joint venture structure is the reference model explicitly cited by Kazakhstan's competition regulator (AZRC) in its March 2025 proposal to partially privatise the Atyrau and Pavlodar refineries, which are currently under 100% KMG Group ownership. The PKOP 50/50 structure is regarded by Kazakhstan's government as having delivered demonstrable operational and governance benefits.
Strategic and Commercial Role
PKOP is the primary fuel supplier to Kazakhstan's southern and south-central regions, including the cities of Shymkent, Almaty, and the broader South Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda oblasts. The refinery's geographic position — situated at the intersection of Central Asian trade routes and proximate to the China–Kazakhstan border corridor — gives it a dual strategic role as both a domestic fuel supply asset and a potential export platform to Central Asian markets.
PKOP's activities, as described by the parent Shymkent Oil Refinery group, encompass geological exploration, field development, oil and gas production, marketing and transportation, as well as the acquisition of fields, processing and sale of oil and oil products — though in practice the refinery entity itself is focused on refining operations, with upstream activities managed through separate CNPC and KMG affiliates.
Expansion Programme
PKOP is the focus of Kazakhstan's most ambitious single-refinery expansion project currently in execution. The Shymkent Refinery Expansion Project — approved at the Government of Kazakhstan in early 2025 — targets a doubling of installed capacity from 6 MMtpy to 12 MMtpy at an estimated total investment of $6 billion. The project is being implemented through the KMG-CNPC joint venture framework, with CNPC contributing both capital and technical resources, and with project financing partly supported by China Eximbank and China Development Bank, which previously financed the two modernisation phases. Expansion is targeted for completion by 2030.
Financial Significance
PKOP is among Kazakhstan's largest industrial taxpayers. The scale of the enterprise, combined with the strategic importance of its 50/50 foreign investment structure under Chinese ownership, means that PKOP financial flows — including dividends, intercompany transfers between KMG R&M and the CNPC group, and loan repayments to Chinese development banks — are significant elements in both Kazakhstan's national accounts and in the tracking of Chinese energy sector investments in Central Asia.
