Royal Dutch Shell to be able to get back to Kazakhstan: Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev

Royal Dutch Shell will be able to get back to Kazakhstan, Tengrinews.kz cited Kazakhstan’s Minister of Oil and Gas Sauat Mynbayev as saying. His comments followed the decision of the energy giant Royal Dutch Shell to close its offices in Kazakhstan on May 30, after laying off its staff. Shell is an important member of the Kashagan oil project in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. Earlier the government in Kazakhstan had rejected a design for the second stage of Kashagan development. According to Mynbayev, “the experimental stage at Kashagan is proceeding smoothly. No decision has been made on the second stage so far. The consortium undertakes to stick to the approved schedule. Works on the second stage will only make sense after the concept of the second stage has been approved. We hope the consortium will submit a [new] concept before the end of the year”, the Minister said. The Kashagan field, named after a 19th century Kazakh poet from Mangistau, is one of the world's largest oil discoveries of the last forty years. Given its size and technical complexity, the Kashagan field will be developed in phases. Phase I, known as the Experimental Programme or EP, is already in the construction phase. The consortium developing the field comprises Eni, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total and KazMunaiGaz (all with a 16.81% stake) as well as ConocoPhillips (8.4%) and Japan's Inpex (7.56%).