Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) - the operator of the North Caspian Project announced on October 9 that oil production from Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan field was suspended.

"Signs of a gas leak were detected in the second half of the day on October 9 during a planned inspection of the pipeline. This is constructed from Island D to the Bolashak plant at a distance of two kilometers from the plant in the sanitary protection zone," the company said.


"The Emergency Situations Department was notified immediately about the incident. No threat to human health and environment has been observed. Excavation for opening the pipeline started on the morning on October 11," the company said. "Once the work is completed, an inspection of the stretch will be carried out and if necessary, repair works will be carried out in line with the procedure. Oil production is suspended until the establishment of the cause of gas leak."

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 first well in the Kashagan field was reopened and first oil volumes were produced on September 11.