Astana, Kazakhstan, Feb. 26
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
A date for resuming production at the Kashagan field in Kazakhstan has not yet been determined, Chairman of board of the Kazakh national oil and gas company KazMunaiGas Sayat Mynbayev said on Feb. 25.
He was speaking at the expanded meeting with the participation of Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov.
"There is uncertainty over Kashagan and a production starting date has not been set," he said.
Mynbayev also stressed that there are still costs associated with the development of the field. They have not been paid since October 2013.
"It is good for the country," he added. "It has negative consequences for KazMunaiGas, as well as for other contractors in this project."
Oil production at Kashagan started on September 11, 2013, but on Sept. 24 its operation was suspended after a gas leak appeared in the ground pipeline stretching from Island D to the Bolashak plant.
Production was resumed, but again suspended on Oct. 9 after showing another leak.
Initially, it was assumed that the production volume at Kashagan would reach eight million tons of oil in 2014. This will increase to 12 million tons in 2015 and allow Kazakhstan to enter the top 10 largest oil-producing countries.
Kashagan is a large oil and gas field in Kazakhstan located in northerly part of the Caspian Sea. Its geological reserves are estimated at 4.8 billion tons of oil. Total oil reserves amount to 38 billion barrels, some 10 billion of them being recoverable reserves. There are large natural gas reserves at the Kashagan field of over one trillion cubic meters.
Translated by NH
Edited by SM