Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Commercial oil production from the giant Kashagan field in Kazakhstan's section of the Caspian Sea will start in October, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said on September 18.

Karabalin reminded that it is necessary to produce at least 75,000 barrels per day for launching commercial oil production at the field. Currently this figure amounts to around 40,000 barrels per day.

"Around 8 million tons of oil are planned to be extracted at Kashagan in 2014," he said.

Kashagan is one of the largest fields discovered in the past 40 years. Recoverable oil reserves of Kashagan are estimated at 11 billion barrels, whereas total geological crude reserves stand at 35 billion barrels. Besides, natural gas reserves are estimated at over 1 trillion cubic meters.

The minister went on to say that the necessary equipment is being adjusted at the field.

The North Caspian Operating Company B.V. - the operator of the North Caspian Project announced on September 11 that the first well in the Kashagan field was reopened and first oil volumes were produced.

Fitch Ratings predicts that production of the first oil from the Kashagan field is positive for Kazakhstan and KazMunaiGas.

"The onset of production is one reason we expect Kazakhstan's economic growth rate to recover after a slight slowdown in 2012. Meanwhile, KazMunaiGas expects the Kashagan field to make a material contribution to its EBITDA and cash flow from next year," the report said.

Earlier Kazakh officials said that it would take between three weeks and one month to launch commercial output from the field.

Besides, the Chinese energy giant China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) became a shareholder in Kashagan with an 8.3 percent stake on 7 September 2013.

Experts believe that accession of the CNPC to the project on development of the Kashagan field will yield positive results.

The future development projects would open up the opportunities to increase the production volumes significantly and this will turn Kashagan into one of the largest suppliers for the world energy market.

However, several experts claim that oil production at the Kashagan field may be stopped with the start of the winter season when parts of the Caspian Sea freezes.