Astana, Kazakhstan, June 9
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Stephane de Mahieu, an ExxonMobil secondee, succeeded Pierre Offant in the role of NCOC Managing Director as of May 1, 2014.
NCOC is the operator of Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil and gas project.
"The transition of the Kashagan project from development to production operations provides an opportunity to further integrate and consolidate operator and agent activities to position the venture for future NCSPSA (North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement) resource development. To capitalize on this opportunity, the NCSPSA shareholders have agreed to work towards a progressive transition from the current operating model to a single consolidated joint-venture company," NCOC said.
The single consolidated joint-venture company will build on the foundations and strengths of NCOC and its development, production, and drilling agents, the company said.
The new company will operate under a single corporate management system, which integrates existing processes and tools from venture entities.
It is expected that the name of the single consolidated joint-venture company will be North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), according to the company.
"The plan is to start integrating and consolidating the companies this year. The activities associated with establishing the single operating company will not affect the pipeline repair activities, preparations for the production restart, or completion of the remaining Phase 1 scope. The current operating model will continue under the existing management teams until changes are formally announced," NCOC said.
Most of the staff of the single operating company will be located in Atyrau. Personnel who interact with government officials will be based in Astana.
No changes to the PSA and /or the NCSPSA ownership structure are envisioned as a result of the planned transition.
The reserves of the Kashagan field are estimated at 35 billion barrels of oil, some 11 billion of which are considered recoverable.
Oil production at Kashagan started on September 11, 2013, but in October it was suspended due to a gas leak on one of the main pipelines.
NCOC consortium, which develops the Kashagan field, earlier said the production at the field is not expected to be resumed in 2014.
The consortium's shareholders are Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total, KazMunaiGas, CNPC and Inpex.