10 mln tonnes of oil exported from Kazakhstan's Kashagan
By Kamila Aliyeva
Ten million tonnes of crude oil and condensate was exported from Kashagan, one of the largest fields of Kazakhstan, the press service of the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) reported on February 2.
“North Caspian Operating Company, operator of the first oil and gas project in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, announces that as of January 30, 2018, the volume of safe production and export from the Kashagan field amounted to ten million tons of crude oil and condensate,” the message said.
NCOC will increase production volumes gradually based on consistently applied planned measures.
“These measures are aimed at ensuring the reliability of our equipment and processes, taking into account the reaction of the reservoir, because production safety is always a top priority for us, and there cannot be any compromises in this matter,” the company explained.
The geological reserves of Kashagan are officially estimated at 4.8 million tons of oil. Total oil reserves amount to 38 billion barrels, of which about 10 billion barrels are recoverable, natural gas reserves are more than 1 trillion barrels cubic meters.
Kazakhstan's proven oil reserves as of early 2016 stood at 30 billion barrels, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan are the largest oil fields in Kazakhstan. Three oil giants will be able to bring Kazakhstan's oil production to a new level in the coming years even if new oil fields are not discovered.
With the start of oil production at the Kashagan field, the forecasts of several international organizations on oil production in Kazakhstan immediately grew.
Analysts from the International Energy Agency (IEA), OPEC, the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (EIA) link the increase in oil production namely with the Kashagan field.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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