ConocoPhillips, a member of the consortium developing the giant Kashagan field, has signaled its frustration with prolonged delays to the project by revising down its estimates of reserves but says it has no doubt of the field's great potential, said Trend reports.
"We've taken a more conservative view on the Phase 1 development of Kashagan," Conoco Chief Executive Jim Mulva told investors during the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call last week. "We expect with more drilling we'll put those reserves right back on. We are not signaling in any way any change in our view of what Kashagan will ultimately do."
In 2006, Conoco made downward revisions of 260 million barrels of oil equivalent, with 65% of the revision coming as a result of a further assessment of reserves at Kashagan.
"Kashagan is a challenge. It's a challenge technically and it's certainly been a challenge on the cost side," Mulva said. "It's been frustrating in terms of how long it's taken us and the cost of Kashagan. It's been very frustrating to all the participants."