Kazakhstan’s military will clear a section of the Caspian Sea of mines to make way for subsea oil pipelines serving the Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar offshore fields.

The plan is outlined in a draft package of amendments to Kazakhstan’s Tax Code, which has been submitted for public discussion through September 25, according to Sputnik Kazakhstan.

“Work to clear Area No. 200 in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea will be carried out by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The routes of the planned subsea oil pipelines for the Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar investment project will pass through this area,” the draft states.

The Defense Ministry, Energy Ministry and project operator Kalamkas-Khazar Operating signed a cooperation memorandum in May 2025.

To support the mine-clearance operation, the company will purchase the necessary specialized equipment and transfer ownership of it to the Defense Ministry.

The explanatory note accompanying the bill says that underwater search, survey and explosive-ordnance operations carried out by the Defense Ministry “will not result in Kalamkas-Khazar Operating receiving income for the purposes of calculating corporate income tax and alternative subsoil-user tax.”

The Kalamkas-Sea and Khazar project combines two neighboring offshore fields on the Caspian Sea shelf.

The projected oil reserves of the two areas are estimated at 81 million tons, while the total reserves of Kalamkas-Sea alone are estimated at 284.5 million tons of oil.

The two fields also contain approximately 19 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to the project documentation.

Kazakhstan’s new Tax Code came into force on January 1, 2026.