Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 31 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
Full capacity production at Kashagan oil and gas field will ensure 7 percent GDP growth in Kazakhstan, Kazinform quoted Kazakh Economy Development and Trade Minister Erbolat Dosayev as saying.
Earlier, forecast for GDP growth in 2012 decreased from 6 to 5.4 percent. Meanwhile, GDP growth in the medium term is forecasted at 7 percent, the minister said.
Kashagan is one of the largest fields discovered in the past 40 years. According to analysts, Kashagan has the potential to unite the top five largest oil companies in the world. Kazakh geologists estimate geological oil reserves at 4.8 billion tons. According to the project operator, total oil reserves are 38 billion barrels (six billion tons), with a recoverable volume of about 10 billion barrels. Natural gas reserves are estimated at over one trillion cubic meters.
The companies, developing the project, are planning to begin commercial production on Kashagan in the first quarter of 2013.
At present, the Kashagan project participants are Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and KazMunaiGas, which owns equal shares (16.81 per cent), as well as ConocoPhillips - 8.4 per cent and Japan's Inpex - 7.55 per cent.