Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.3
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
The North Caspian Operating Company consortium (NCOC, operator of Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field) is developing an alternative concept for the gas re-injection project, Kazakh media outlets reported.
This concept will increase production at the Kashagan field to 450,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The project is planned to be implemented after the first phase, said General Director of PSA LLP Murat Zhurebekov.
He noted that 450,000 bpd is already a new concept, which is now being developed by the consortium, and NCOC will soon present its vision.
Presently, the first phase of Kashagan field development – experimental program – is being implemented, and thereafter it is planned to start the project of gas re-injection "Compressing Center -01" (CC-01) to achieve the production level of 450,000 bpd. CC-01 should be followed by phase 2.
"CC-01 is an old concept, it is still on the table, but simultaneously we are working on other alternatives that can lead us to an increase to the indicators that we talked about before CC-01," Zhurebekov noted.
He further said that to increase production to 450,000 bpd it may be necessary to upgrade the current two compressors, and, possibly, to transfer some production wells to injection ones.
In December 2016, Vice-Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Magzum Mirzagaliyev noted that the cost of the CC-01 project in Kashagan will be $5 billion. Within the project, an additional island will be built, which will be equipped with compressors, through which gas will be re-injected into the reservoir.
The project implementation is aimed at increasing the production of hydrocarbons. This will enable Kazakhstan to earn more than $4 billion at the $50 price per barrel.
Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev has previously told reporters that currently the Kashagan field produces 340,000 bpd, and it is planned to increase the production to 370,000 bpd in the coming months.
Kashagan is an offshore oil field in Kazakhstan's sector of the Caspian Sea. The field, discovered in 2000, is considered the world's largest discovery in the last 30 years, combined with the Tengiz Field.
It is estimated that the Kashagan Field has recoverable reserves of about 13 billion barrels of crude oil. Commercial production at Kashagan began in November 2016. It has been designated as the main source of supply for the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline.
NCOC started experimental program in Kashagan in 2016. The shareholders of the consortium are KMG Kashagan B. V., Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V., Total E&P Kazakhstan, Agip Caspian Sea B.V., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. (16.8 percent each), CNPC Kazakhstan B. V. (8.3 percent), Inpex North Caspian Sea Ltd. (7.5 percent).