Giant Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea offshore Kazakhstan should resume production by 2017.

First oil from the giant development started flowing in September 2013, however it was stopped after detection of an offshore gas leak.

After several studies into the causes of the leak The North Caspian Operating Company decided to fully replace the affected offshore pipelines.

According to Kazinform newspaper, the country’s Prime Minister Karim Qajymqanuly Massimov said today that the pipelines replacement would be paid for in full by the consortium running the project, with the replacement scheduled to be completed at the end of 2016. He said production was expected to start soon after the replacement of the pipelines.

The contract for new pipelines was awarded to Italy’s Saipem in February 2015. Under the deal valued $1.8 billion, Saipem will build and install two 95 kilometer offshore pipelines.

Largest Caspian Sea oil find

Equity interests of the North Caspian Operating Company consortium partners are: KMG (KazMunayGas) 16.87%, Eni 16.8%, ExxonMobil 16.8%, Shell 16.8%, Total 16.8%, CNPC – 8.33%, and INPEX 7.6%.

The Kashagan field represents the largest oil accumulation in the North Caspian Sea with estimated reserves of approximately 35 billion barrels of oil in place.

Located 80 kilometers off the coast of Kazakhstan, the Kashagan site lies in the Northern area of the Caspian Sea. Water depths range from 2 to 6 meters, and temperatures fluctuate between -40°C and +40°C throughout the year.

The shareholders have reportedly splashed over $50 billion on the development of the field but according to CNN Money, Kashagan is the world’s most expensive energy project valued at $116 billion.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

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