Baku, Azerbaijan, July 14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
It is planned to produce 11 - 13 million tons of oil at Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field as of 2018, the project operator North Caspian Operating Company BV (NCOC), based in Kazakhstan, told Trend.
"NCOC has safely reached actual production levels of 325,000 barrels per day. Production reliability continues to exceed 2018 forecasts," said the company.
The company said it is in line with the plan voiced by the country’s Ministry of Energy in a range of 11 - 13 million tons of oil for this year.
"The approach to increasing production has not changed: a sequence of steady and planned steps to build confidence in Project equipment, processes, and the reaction of the reservoir – with safety, as always, the first priority," said NCOC.
The company said that a total of forty wells have been drilled for this phase of the project and the drilling program is now complete.
The Kashagan field in the northern part of the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea is one of the largest oil fields discovered over the past 40 years. Its recoverable reserves are estimated at approximately 9-13 billion barrels of oil.
North Caspian Operating Company BV (NCOC) consortium is engaged in the development of the field. Currently, the composition of shareholders of NCOC is as follows: Kazakhstan KMG Kashagan B.V. – about 16.88 percent, Agip Caspian Sea B.V. - about 16.81 percent, ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. - about 16.81 percent, Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V.-about 16.81 percent, Total EP Kazakhstan - about 16.81 percent, Inpex North Caspian Sea Ltd. - 7.56 percent, and CNPC Kazakhstan B. V. - 8.33 percent.
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