Kazakhstan, Astana, May 4 /Trend, A.Maratov/
Talks about the postponement in beginning the process of developing the second phase of Kazakhstan's Kashagan field are premature, Chairman of the Board of KazMunayGas, Kairgeldy Kabyldin, said in an interview with Trend on Wednesday.
"This question [about the postponement of dates for the development of the second phase of Kashagan] is being discussed, but now nobody can say exactly about the timing of the start of the second phase," said Kabyldin.
He said currently the negotiations with the shareholders of NCOC Consortium (North Caspian Operating Company) on the timing and budget of the second phase of the Kashagan field development is are conducted by the Ministry of Oil and Gas of Kazakhstan.
"During the negotiations with the Consortium, there must be decided the issue on the concept of the second phase of the project that must be submitted to the Ministry of Oil and Gas, and only then it will be possible to talk about the early beginning of the second phase of the Kashagan project," said the head of KMG.
He also said that such transportation projects as the Kazakhstan Caspian Transportation System (KCTS) and Baku-Black Sea gas pipeline are "tied to big oil" from Kashagan.
"And if there is no volume, then, first of all, there will not be sufficient justification to create KCTS," said Kabyldin.
Earlier a number of foreign mass media outlets reported that the beginning of the second phase of the Kashagan may be postponed from 2018 to 2021, as the international oil companies Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil are going to convince the Ministry of Oil and Gas of Kazakhstan to support the simplified project, which will reduce their costs by $18 billion to $50 billion.
NCOC press service said that the consortium is considering various different projects, which are aimed at maximizing economic efficiency. Following completion of the analysis by the end of 2011, the chosen design solution will be presented for approval by the shareholders and authorities.
Earlier in an interview with Trend, the Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said that the concept of the second phase of the Kashagan project will be ready by late 2011, and only after this, the Ministry will be able to give any concrete answer.
The government and the shareholders of the international consortium NCOC previously promised that the first oil from Kashagan must be obtained in late 2012 and early 2013. In the initial phase, the production volume will be approximately 370-375,000 barrels per day.
In the second phase of development of Kashagan project, production volume would reach 1.5 million barrels per day.
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