2 Sep 2022 16:07

NCOC preparing plan to fully restore oil output at Kashagan, still at 100,000 bpd

NUR-SULTAN. Sept 2 (Interfax) - The North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the operator of the Kashagan oil field, is preparing a plan to fully restore oil production at the field following repair works due to a gas leak, the press service for NCOC told Interfax.

"A detailed plan is being formulated to restore production in full," the press service said.

Production at the field has currently resumed partially and totals approximately 100,000 barrels per day, it said. Repair works have begun, and a section of pipe where a gas leak was discovered is being replaced.

Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov said on September 1 that an inspection at the site due to the gas leak would be completed at the end of September.

Kashagan operations were suspended as a result of signs of a gas leak at the Bolashak Onshore Processing Facility on August 3.

NCOC announced in the early morning of August 10 that it would begin to "resume production gradually." The Kazakh Energy Ministry said on August 11 that oil production had only been partially restored at the field at around 100,000 bpd.

Kashagan is one of the largest oil fields discovered in recent decades. Its recoverable resources are estimated at 9-13 billion barrels of crude. Commercial operations at Kashagan began on November 1, 2016.

NCOC is owned by KMG Kashagan B.V. with 16.877%, Shell (SPB: RDS.A) Kazakhstan Development B.V., Total EP Kazakhstan, Agip Caspian Sea B.V., and ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc. each with 16.807%, CNPC Kazakhstan B.V. with 8.333%, and Inpex North Caspian Sea Ltd. with 7.563%.