Date set for official re-opening of Kashagan field
By Gunay Hasanova
The official opening of the Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan is scheduled to take place on December 7, Kazinform reported citing the country’s Energy Ministry.
The ministry reminded that hydrocarbons production at Kashagan was resumed on September 28 and the first batch of oil was sent abroad on October 14.
Kashagan, first discovered in 2000, is developed by Kazakhstan’s state oil company, KazMunayGas, and a consortium of some of the world’s biggest oil companies, including ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell.
The field is considered to be the world's largest discovery in the last 30 years, combined with the Tengiz Field. The reservoir lies at the depth of some 4,200 meters below the shallow waters of the northern part of the Caspian Sea.
The geological reserves of Kashagan are estimated at 4.8 billion tons of oil, while total oil reserves amount to 38 billion barrels with some 10 billion out of them being recoverable reserves. Moreover, there are also large natural gas reserves at Kashagan field (over one trillion cubic meters).
Earlier, Kazakh Energy Ministry said that 479,000 tons of commercial oil and 97 million cubic meters of marketable gas has been produced at Kashagan field so far.
The country plans to increase production at the field until the end of 2016 and in 2017.
Kashagan is projected to increase oil production in the country, but it is considered to be a negative factor for the global oil market which suffers from oil glut.
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