Oil production at Kashagan can reach 420 thousand barrels per day
The Ministry of Energy believes that after the implementation of the first phase of the project to optimise oil production in Kashagan in 2021, daily oil production will amount to 420 thousand barrels.
This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Energy Magzum Mirzagaliyev.
"Today, together with the shareholders, work to optimise production at the field to 420 thousand and then to 450 thousand barrels per day is underway. The project is divided into two phases. In the first phase, which we are currently studying, expansion of existing compressors will be done, their capacity will be increased. This will most likely be in 2021. Accordingly, by increasing the capacity of our compressors for pumping gas, we will be able to increase production to 420,000 barrels per day," Mirzagaliyev said on the sidelines of the annual Caspian Technical Conference in Astana, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported.
“Next, we plan to switch to a project that we have previously stated, the CC-01 or Compression Centre-01. Within the framework of this project we will be able to increase production to 450 thousand barrels per day,” the vice minister added.
Earlier it was reported that the consortium of North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC, Kashagan operator) is developing an alternative concept for the gas re-injection project, which will increase production at the Kashagan field to 450 thousand barrels per day, it is scheduled for implementation after the completion of the first phase for pilot industrial development.
At present, the first phase of field development, pilot industrial development, is being implemented at Kashagan. After it, it was planned to start a gas injection project, Compression Centre-01”, to achieve a production level of 450 thousand b/d. After CC-01, a second phase should follow.
According to the concept of development of the field, which was reported in 2016, the project for gas re-injection was planned to be implemented within five years, from 2019 to 2024. According to its results, the production at Kashagan should be increased from 370 thousand to 450 thousand b/d.
In December 2016, the Vice-Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Magzum Mirzagaliyev reported that the cost of the CC-01 project at Kashagan will be $5 billion.
"The project is called the Compression Centre. Within the framework of it, an additional island that will be equipped with compressors will be built. Through these compressors gas will be re-injected into the reservoir," Mirzagaliyev said.
Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev told in early October of this year that 340 thousand barrels per day are being extracted at the field and it is planned to increase the production to 370 thousand barrels per day in the coming months.
As previously reported, according to the initial plans of the NCOC consortium developing the Kashagan field, it was planned to reach the level of 370,000 barrels per day by the end of 2017, however, technical difficulties arose due to problems with reservoir uptake. In the middle of March 2018, the operator stopped a number of wells for gas production and injection into the reservoir, and production at Kashagan was reduced from 300 thousand b/d to 214 thousand b/d. Then, by the end of April, mining returned to the level of 300 thousand b/d.
Kashagan is the first offshore oil and gas field in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea, as well as the largest international investment project in the country. Commercial production at the field began on November 1, 2016.
Reported by ABC TV (Kazakhstan).
