Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Commercial oil production at Kashagan field in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan will begin no later than this October, and perhaps even earlier, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbay Karabalin said.

"In general, the project is ready by 98 percent," Karabalin said. "We viewed the state of readiness of the islands, from which oil will go. There is hope that production will start in October. If it starts earlier, we will be happy. Rigs should be docked and work consistently, without a single mistake and leak. So, there is high responsibility. But at the same time we saw that the contractors have worked actively. We hope that this year will be successful for us."

Kashagan is one of the largest fields discovered in the past 40 years. Recoverable oil reserves of Kashagan field are estimated at 11 billion barrels, whereas total geological raw material reserves stand at 35 billion barrels. It is believed to be the largest oil field in the world after Prudo Bay in Alaska. Besides, natural gas reserves are estimated at over 1 trillion cubic meters.

The commencement of commercial production at Kashagan is expected by mid-2013. The first phase of the project envisions the volume of production at around 370,000 barrels of oil per day with a possible increase to 450,000 barrels. The second phase envisages increasing production to 375,000 bpd within at least three years.

NCOC North Caspian Operating Company B.V. is the single operator of the North Caspian project. The shareholders of NCOC are Agip Caspian Sea BV (16.81 percent), KMG Kashagan B.V. (16.81 percent), Conocophillips North Caspian Ltd. (8.4 percent), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. (16.81 percent), Inpex North Caspian Sea Ltd. (7.56 percent), Shell Kazakhstan Development BV (16,81 percent) and Total E & P Kazakhstan (16.81 percent).