Kazakhstan, Astana, Oct. 31 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
It is too early to develop the Kazakh oil and gas field Kashagan, chairman of the Kazakh Environmental Union of Associations and Enterprises Tabigat (Nature) Mels Eleusizov said today.
"Kashagan and its development is a big risk for us," he told Trend today. "Thousands of kilometres of pipelines have been laid along the Caspian Sea and if they weld the pipes wrong, a rupture can occur in case of a storm or a period of ice. Moreover, these pipes must be replaced every six years as the Caspian Sea area is very aggressive. Therefore, I believe that it is too early to develop the Kashagan field."
He added that it is necessary to focus on onshore fields.
"I believe that at present, we do not need Kashagan," the expert said. "It should be left to future generations to decide when the the new technologies will be available."
Kashagan is one of the largest fields discovered in the past 40 years. According to analysts, it has the potential to unite the top five largest oil companies in the world. Kazakh geologists estimate geological oil reserves at 4.8 billion tons. According to the project operator, total oil reserves are 38 billion barrels (six billion tons), with a recoverable volume of about 10 billion barrels. Natural gas reserves are estimated at over one trillion cubic meters.
The companies developing the project are planning to begin commercial production on Kashagan in the first quarter of 2013.
At present, the Kashagan project participants are Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and KazMunaiGas, which owns equal shares (16.81 per cent), as well as ConocoPhillips - 8.4 per cent and Japan's Inpex - 7.55 per cent.