Astana, Kazakhstan, April 29
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Concreting of the pipes in Kazakhstan`s Kashagan field did not cause them to crack, the Kazakh ERSAI Caspian Contractor LLP reported.
"Concreting pipes produced by LLP "ERSAI Caspian Contractor" in Kuryk was conducted in order to protect them from the outside, as well as from mechanical damage. Furthermore, concrete coating made by the company, applied on top of the polypropylene anti-corrosion coating, made by the pipe manufacturer in accordance with the specifications," the statement said.
The report noted that the company encourages the media to pay attention to the official statement of the consortium "North Caspian Operating Company", which develops the field and the investigating the causes of gas leakage in the pipeline, according to which "the immediate cause of the leak was the sulfide cracking under tension."
"Thus, the cracks appeared inside the pipe, not on the outside, " the report said.
"ERSAI Caspian Contractor" believes it was in no way involved in the gas-leaking incident, and said that it is interested in hearing the results of the investigation of the issue, according to the report.
Following the start of production from the Kashagan field on 11 September 2013, the operations had to be stopped on 24 September, due to a gas leak in the onshore section of the gas pipeline running from D Island to the onshore processing facility "Bolashak".
The Department of Emergency Situations and the relevant authorities were immediately informed in accordance with the regulations. The access to the line was secured and the respective joint replaced.
Production was resumed, but had to be stopped again on 9 October after the detection of a gas leak. Following repair of the affected joint, pressure tests were performed revealing some other potential gas leaks. A thorough investigation was launched at that time.
Kashagan is one of the largest fields discovered in the past 40 years. Kazakh geologists estimate geological oil reserves at 4.8 billion tons.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by S.I.