Category: Kazakhstan

Kazakh government expects oil boom once troubled Kashagan oil field resumes operations. (Photo: North Caspian Operating Co.) Kazakhstan’s government said Wednesday it expects oil production to increase by as much as 30 percent in part because of operations at its giant Kashagan field. Kashagan is among the largest oil fields in the world, with an estimated 16 billion barrels of oil reserves. Production was halted in October 2013, less than a month after it started, when a pipeline associated with the field cracked open. Kazakh Deputy Energy Minister Uzakbai Karabalin told reporters the government in Astana is determined to increase production despite a series of setbacks. "Oil output is expected to reach 630 million barrels in 2017 and 760 million barrels in 2020," he said. "This increase will be due to the expansion project at [onshore oil field] Tengiz and resumption of offshore oil production at Kashagan." Kazakh production […]

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OAO Lukoil is seeking damages from China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. through arbitration proceedings in London, saying the Chinese company breached an agreement to buy 50 percent of a Kazakh Continue Reading

Italian energy company Eni committed to moving forward with developments at Kashagan oil field, one of the largest in the world. (Photo: North Caspian Operating Co.) ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Dec. 22 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Monday it was committed to getting the Kashagan oil project in Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest, up and running. Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi met in Astana with Kazakh leaders to discuss developments at the offshore Kashagan oil field . Kashagan is among the largest oil fields in the world, with an estimated 16 billion barrels of oil reserves. Production was halted in October 2013, less than a month after it started, when a pipeline associated with the field cracked open. Last week, members of the production consortium, which includes Eni, met with government officials and the North Caspian Operating Co. to review the project. Terms of an agreement charting […]

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4579 Votes REUTERS/Anatoly UstinenkoAn aerial view shows artificial islands on Kashagan offshore oil field in the Caspian sea, western Kazakhstan, April 7, 2013. Picture taken April 7, 2013. WHEN it was discovered in 2000, the Kashagan oilfield in Kazakhstan’s waters in the northern Caspian Sea was the world’s biggest oil find in three decades. By now it was supposed to be pumping out 1.2m barrels a day (mbd), enough to meet Spain’s entire consumption. But the project, whose name sounds unfortunately like “cash all gone”, went spectacularly awry. A year ago, when the first trickle of crude briefly flowed, it was already eight years behind schedule. Having cost $43 billion, it was $30 billion over budget. And production lasted only a few weeks before leaks of poisonous gas forced its suspension. Earlier this month a government minister admitted it would not restart until at least 2016. Undeterred by the […]

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An aerial view shows artificial islands on Kashagan offshore oil field in the Caspian sea, western Kazakhstan, April 7, 2013. Picture taken April 7, 2013. REUTERS/Anatoly Ustinenko (KAZAKHSTAN – Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY) – RTX136VO The cost of Kashagan, already the world’s most expensive oil project , is set to rise by nearly $4bn as the companies developing it are forced to replace 200km of leaking pipelines. The rise marks another setback for a venture that was supposed to symbolise Kazakhstan’s emergence as a leading oil producer, but it has been dogged by technical challenges, delays and cost over-runs. More On this topic IN Oil & Gas The consortium – which includes , , , and CNPC – marked first production at the Kazakhstan field in September last year after spending $50bn on its development, but production was shut weeks later when sulphur-containing gas was discovered leaking from pipelines between […]

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Russian natural gas company Gazprom said it was considering extending its working relationship with its counterparts in Kazakhstan through the 2030s. Deputy Gazprom Chairman Alexander Medvedev met in Astana with Kazakh Oil Minister Uzakbai Karabalin to review the Russian company’s future in the former Soviet republic. "The parties discussed further cooperation in the gas sector and, in particular, the extension of the long-term agreement till 2038 — on purchase and sale of gas produced from the Karachaganak gas and condensate field," Gazprom said in a statement Wednesday. "A focus was also placed on the prospects for the joint development of the Imashevskoye gas and condensate field." Kazakhstan is a net importer of natural gas. Much of its domestic gas is used to enhance production from its vast oil fields. It has 85 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and Karachaganak and Imashevskoye combine to represent 53 percent […]

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The full moon rises in the background over an oil rig at the Kashagan offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan. Reuters Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field, one of the world’s largest industrial projects, won’t produce any oil until at least 2016 while workers battle against the hostile Caspian Sea to complete massive repairs, according to people familiar with the matter. The project’s partners, which include Eni SpA, Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. , have concluded they must entirely replace two 55-mile pipelines before they can restart production, the people said. Replacing the two pipelines connecting an offshore artificial island to onshore facilities is estimated to cost "a few billion dollars," they said. The latest delay is a blow to the Kazakh government, which had based its economic forecasts on revenue from the Caspian Sea oil field, where output was expected […]

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The full moon rises in the background over an oil rig at the Kashagan offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan. Reuters Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field, one of the world’s largest industrial projects, won’t produce any oil until at least 2016 while workers battle against the hostile Caspian Sea to complete massive repairs, according to people familiar with the matter. The project’s partners, which include Eni SpA, Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. , have concluded they must entirely replace two 55-mile pipelines before they can restart production, the people said. Replacing the two pipelines connecting an offshore artificial island to onshore facilities is estimated to cost "a few billion dollars," they said. The latest delay is a blow to the Kazakh government, which had based its economic forecasts on revenue from the Caspian Sea oil field, where output was expected […]

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Kazakhstan’s troubled giant offshore Kashagan field is set to see a revamp of the management model in the next several months, but will not change conditions of the field’s production sharing agreement (PSA) and its shareholding structure, the Kashagan operator NCOC said in a statement Monday. Earlier this month, Kazakhstan’s oil and gas minister Uzakbay Karabalin told local media that the ministry was dissatisfied with Kashagan’s rising costs and slow decision-making processes and expected the project’s management system to become more efficient after the planned revamp. "No changes to the PSA and/or the NCSPSA [the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement] ownership structure are envisioned as a result of the planned transition," NCOC said in a statement. An NCOC spokesman denied last week’s report by the Nefte Compass publication that US major ExxonMobil is to take over as Kashagan’s effective operator from Italy’s Eni. […]

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U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil is in line to take over as operator of the giant Kashagan field in an attempt to fix the beleaguered $50 billion project offshore Kazakhstan, industry publication Nefte Compass reported on Friday. Discussions are continuing but Exxon could be appointed as soon as at the end of June, the newsletter quoted a senior Kazakh official as saying. Exxon was not immediately available for comments. Italy’s Eni was given the job of operating the project in 2001. It later lost its role as the sole lead operator following major delays and cost overruns. Production finally started last September but was halted in early October after the discovery of gas leaks in the pipeline network. Oil output may now not restart until early 2016, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said in May, urging foreign partners to start replacing leaky […]

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