Kazakhstan, Astana, Nov.15 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
Partners in the international NCOC consortium, implementing the project to develop Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil and gas field, reached an interim decision on financing the second phase of the project at a meeting in Astana on Thursday, a senior source in the Kazakhstan oil sector told Trend on Thursday.
The source did not disclose the essence of the interim decision.
The budget of the second phase was one of the disputed issues between the Kazakh government and shareholders of the consortium.
Kashagan is the major oil and gas field in Kazakhstan located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea. According to Kazakh geologists, Kashagan's geological reserves are estimated at 4.8 billion tons of oil. According to the project's operator the total oil reserves amount to 38 billion barrels, or six billion tons, of which 10 billion barrels are being extracted. Kashagan holds huge natural gas reserves amounting to more than one trillion cubic meters.
Companies developing the project, plan to begin commercial production on Kashagan in the first quarter of 2013.
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.