Kazakhstan postpones Kashagan oil field maintenance until Oct 7 - Energy Ministry

ASTANA. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry has postponed scheduled maintenance at the Kashagan field until October 7 from the previously announced date of October 3, the ministry told Interfax.

The press service said the maintenance would take 30 days.

The Energy Ministry previously said that the maintenance would begin on October 3 and last 38 days. Officials did not give a reason for the rescheduling.

Several media outlets previously reported, citing sources, that the Energy Ministry had allegedly asked the shareholders of the Kashagan oil field to delay the maintenance. However, the ministry denied this claim, affirming that the repairs would proceed as planned.

The Kashagan field is one of the world's largest oil fields discovered in recent decades. Its recoverable reserves range from 9 to 13 billion barrels of oil. Commercial production at Kashagan started in 2016. Kashagan produced 18.8 million tonnes of oil in 2023.

The shareholders of NCOC, the operator of the Kashagan field, are KMG Kashagan B.V. (16.877%), Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V. (16.807%), Total EP Kazakhstan (16.807%), AgipCaspian Sea B.V. (16.807%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. (16.807%), CNPC Kazakhstan B.V. (8.333%) and Inpex North-Caspian Sea Ltd. (7.563%).