Pilot oil production at Kashagan to start by year end

Pilot oil production will start at Kashagan by the end of the year, Tengrinews.kz reports citing chairman of KazMunaiGas Lyazzat Kiinov as saying after signing the agreements with Russia’s LUKOIL. “Pilot exploitation is scheduled to start in the end of this year. It will start at around 75 thousand barrels per day with a gradual increase to 375 thousand barrels per day. The option of producing 450 thousand barrels a day was initially considered, but currently the target value is 375 thousand barrels per day,” Kiinov told the journalists. He noted that these are not the volumes of stable production, but only the pilot exploitation. “Pilot exploitation is required to define added capabilities of the field and its other characteristics. During that time we will test the equipment installed at the field. You know, the field is not a simple one; it is very complicated and cannot be treated as any other field. Over 99 percent of the actual scope of work have already been performed, that’s why everything will be completed and pilot exploitation will start by the end of the year,” he explained. By Aidana Ussupova