Kazakhstan’s huge oil field Kashagan was officially presented on December 7, Kazakh Energy Ministry said. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev took part in the event.
Oil production at Kashagan was launched in autumn and reached commercial level of 75,000 barrels per day on November 1. Currently work is carried out in order to increase the level of production to 180,000 barrels per day, the ministry said.
It is expected to produce up to 1 million tons of oil and 680 million cubic meters of gas by the end of 2016, according to the ministry.
In 2017 oil production at Kashagan is expected to increase to 8.9 million tons of oil and 5.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In subsequent years it is planned to increase the production to 13 million tons of oil and 9 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Kashagan is a large oil and gas field in Kazakhstan, located in the north of the Caspian Sea. Its recoverable oil reserves amount to 9-13 billion barrels.
The project participants are KMG Kashagan BV (16.88%), AGIP Caspian Sea BV (nearly 16.81%), CNPC Kazakhstan BV (8.33%), Exxon Mobil Kazakhstan Inc. (nearly 16.81%), INPEX North Caspian Sea Ltd. (nearly 16.81%), Shell Kazakhstan Development BV (nearly 16.81%), and Total E&P Kazakhstan (nearly 16.81%).
The field is operated by North Caspian Operating Company BV (NCOC). (Trend/Business World Magazine)