Nazarbayev, Cameron launch Bolashak onshore processing facility in Atyrau region
ASTANA. July 1 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron attended a ceremony on Sunday launching the Bolashak onshore processing facility in the Atyrau region of western Kazakhstan, the president's press office said in a press release.
During the ceremony, Nazarbayev said that the Bolashak unit is the largest processing facility in the country.
"Its design capacity is 450,000 barrels of oil a day and 8.8 million cubic meters of gas a day. The project has created over 2,500 new jobs," the president is quoted as saying.
According to the press release, Nazarbayev and Cameron also participated in a business conference dedicated to the prospects of economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UK.
The Bolashak facility, located 35 kilometers east of Atyrau (the administrative center of the Atyrau region), is one of the key production units of the North Caspian Project. Bolashak will process oil and gas extracted from the Kashagan field.
Kashagan is believed to be the world's largest oil field after Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, which was discovered in 1968.
Kashagan's recoverable oil reserves are estimated at 11 billion barrels, and total in-place reserves are estimated at 35 billion barrels.
The shareholders in the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the operator of the North Caspian Project, which includes the Kashagan field, are Agip Caspian Sea B.V. (16.81%), KMG Kashagan B.V. (16.81%), ConocoPhillips North Caspian Ltd. (8.4%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. (16.81%), Inpex North Caspian Sea Ltd. (7.56%), Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V. (16.81%) and Total EP Kazakhstan (16.81%).
The bulk of the work at the onshore and offshore facilities was completed by the end of 2009, as agreed with the Kazakh government, with a view to starting production at Kashagan at the end of 2012. However, the commencement date has been delayed a few times. Now the Kazakh Oil Ministry expects commercial production at Kashagan to commence this September.
