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Kazakhstan launches oil production at Kashagan

Oil&Gas Materials 12 October 2016 16:09 (UTC +04:00)
Kazakhstan has launched oil production at Kashagan field, with oil being produced at only four wells of the field
Kazakhstan launches oil production at Kashagan

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
Kazakhstan has launched oil production at Kashagan field, with oil being produced at only four wells of the field, Sputnik Kazakhstan quoted Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev as saying.

“As of Wednesday morning, daily oil production at Kashagan stood at 90,000 barrels,” Bozumbayev told reporters on the sidelines of a plenary session of the Majilis (parliament’s lower chamber) on Oct. 12.

The onshore facility Bolashak, which processes the Kashagan oil, is also operating normally, according to the minister.

“Yesterday, the first batch of the processed commercial oil was delivered from Bolashak to the tanks of KazTransOil,” the minister said, adding, “The project operator and its shareholders will announce the first export contract soon.”

Kashagan is a large oil and gas field in Kazakhstan, located in the north of the Caspian Sea. Its total oil reserves amount to 38 billion barrels. Some 10 billion out of them are recoverable reserves.
Kashagan’s natural gas reserve exceeds one trillion cubic meters.

Production at the Kashagan field started in September 2013, but in October, it was suspended after a gas leak on one of the main pipelines.
An analysis was conducted for several months, which revealed numerous micro-cracks on the pipeline. They emerged as a result of the impact of the associated gas of high sulfur content on the metal.

The project’s operator, North Caspian Operating Company BV (NCOC), confirmed the need for a complete replacement of the 200 kilometer long gas and oil pipelines at the field.

The project participants are KMG Kashagan BV (16.88 percent), AGIP Caspian Sea BV (nearly 16.81 percent), CNPC Kazakhstan BV (8.33 percent), Exxon Mobil Kazakhstan Inc. (nearly 16.81 percent), INPEX North Caspian Sea Ltd., Shell Kazakhstan Development BV (nearly 16.81 percent), and Total E&P Kazakhstan (nearly 16.81 percent).

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova

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