Completion time of pipe laying at Kashagan announced

According to KazMunaiGas directors’ board chairman Sauat Mynbayev, decisions on pipe-laying on Kashagan field had been taken by the project participants.

Pipe-laying at Kashagan is to be completed in the second half of 2016, the chairman of KazMunaiGas board Sauat Mynbayev told a briefing in the Central Communications Service, Kazpravda.kz correspondent reports.

Concurrently, Mynbayev added, the consortium will use this time before the second half of 2016, for overall inventory of all the equipment on Bolashak and island D. Laying of new pipes is entirely at the consortium’s expense.Regarding the profitability, Mynbayev said that Kashagan is capital-intensive, and cost recovery level is high enough.

"I understand that it may be about $ 100 per barrel. In the long term, it is acceptable for contracting companies, since they see such giant fields as promising. The formal terms of contracting companies are till 2041. But Kazakhstan will be producing oil for at least 50 years after it, "- he added.

Production at Kashagan was stopped due to gas leaks from cracks in the pipeline. In May 2014 the Minister of Oil Uzakbai Karabalin said that the replacement of pipes at the Kashagan field will take about two years.

The project involves KazMunaiGas, the Italian Eni, the US ExxonMobil, British-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, French Total and Japanese Inpex. In addition Chinese CNPC acquired 8.33% share in the project from KMG.

Author: Elmira Kirgeyeva

http://www.kazpravda.kz/en/news/economics/completion-time-of-pipe-laying-at-kashagan-announced