Production At Kashagan Won't Resume Until Early 2014 After Pipe Checks - Report

Kazakhstan’s largest oilfield won’t resume production before early next year after partners in the Kashagan project inspect 180 kilometers (132 miles) of pipelines, reported Bloomberg.

A full inspection of both oil and gas pipelines, each about 90 kilometers long, will be done using a probe known as an intelligent pig before starting the field, North Caspian Operating Co., the field’s operator, said by e-mail today.

Kashagan, where production began in September after being delayed several times from the original plan in 2005, was producing about 60,000 barrels a day before a leak stopped the field on Oct. 9. The project’s cost mounted as the operators undertook drilling from a man-made island to unlock crude 4,200 meters (2.6 miles) under the seabed in a pressurized reservoir with a high concentration of poisonous sour gas.

Visual inspections on the onshore sections of the pipeline found “additional locations on the gas pipeline that provided doubtful visual results that still need the confirmation of the intelligent pig before being finally assessed for integrity,” the operator said on December 5.

The offshore gas pipeline has been kept under pressure for several weeks and was carefully monitored during that period, NCOC said.

Oil produced at 10 artificial islands is sent to a hub via...