From: Elina Karakulova (ekarakulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu Jul 17 2003 - 15:22:25 EDT
KAZAKHSTAN'S KARACHAGANAK OIL FIELD SHIPS FIRST OIL
The giant Karachaganak oil field in western Kazakhstan shipped its first oil on 15 July, Kazinform, Interfax, and other Kazakh and Russian media reported on 16 July, citing British Gas (BG), one of the major firms working the field. BG head Frank Chapman noted that the field went into production exactly on schedule. The first sale of Karachaganak oil will take place at the end of September when the oil reaches Novorossiisk via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's pipeline system. BG and its main partner in operating the field, Italy's ENI, have invested more than $1 billion in the project. Together the two firms have a 32.5 percent stake in the project, which is managed by the Kazakh state oil-and-gas firm KazMunayGaz. Other major investors are ChevronTexaco, with a 20 percent share, and Russia's LUKoil, with 15 percent. Kazakhstan hopes that the oil field will create 20,000 jobs. It is projected to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day and up to 7 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The gas is already being exported to Orenburg, Russia, for processing. BB
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