Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.25 / Trend, E. Kosolapova /
Kazakh State Oil and Gas Company "KazMunaiGas" and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) are in talks to create the infrastructure needed to transport oil from Kazakhstan's Kashagan field within the second phase of its development, Kazakh Ambassador to Azerbaijan Serik Primbetov said at a press conference at the Trend International News Agency on Tuesday.
As it was previously reported, oil from Kashagan may go through Azerbaijan within implementation of the second phase of development of the field, which is scheduled for 2018-2019.
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 of 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.