Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The developers of Kazakhstan's Kashagan field will be fined for environmental damage and suspension of work in the field, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said on January 16.

"The sanctions and fines specified in the agreement will be imposed. Primarily they are the penalties on environmental violations," the minister said at a press conference following the meeting of the KazEnergy Board of Association.

The minister went on to say the Kazakh Environment Ministry has conducted several meetings with the contractors.

"I expect that the figures on the fines will be announced by the end of the month," Karabalin said.

The minister did not mention the possible size of the fines, citing the confidentiality rules of the agreement.

Karabalin also noted that the ministry included Kashagan in the forecast plan of oil production for 2014.

The Kashagan field with recoverable oil reserves - estimated at 11 billion barrels - 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 North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which is the operator of the Kashagan field, said on January 15 that the results of analyzes of steel samples of pipelines from the Kashagan field held by TWI (UK) and other specialized laboratories, will be ready in late January-early February.

The oil production in the field started on September 11, 2013. However the operations had to be stopped on September 24, due to a gas leak in the onshore section of the gas pipeline running from Island D to the Bolashak onshore processing facility. The Department of Emergency Situations was immediately briefed on the regulations. Production was resumed, but stopped again on October 9 after a detection of a gas leak.

NCOC also said the examination of the gas pipeline running from the D island to the Bolashak Integrated Oil and Gas plant with the 'diagnostic pig' has been completed and the data of the results are being interpreted.

The time of resumption of production depends on the amount of necessary repair work, which can be assessed only after the results of the research into the causes of cracking held by TWI, and the results of the analysis carried out with the diagnostic pig are available.

"North Caspian consortium is committed to the accurate compliance with the requirements of safe production activities ensuring their compliance with best practices for operation of oil and gas fields, the provisions of the PSA, as well as legislation," the consortium said.