The future of the world’s largest oil field Kashagan in the Kazakhstan part of the Caspian shelf has once again become a central theme for discussion - at the Kazakhstan International Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference (KIOGE). A special position was also presented by the US State Department, Ambassador Steven Mann, who came to Kazakhstan’s southern capital Almaty specifically to attend KIOGE-2008. Mann began his speech talking about his visit to the field the previous on October 4 where he learned about the work being done on the field. “I was impressed with the results achieved by the consortium and its contractors. That Kashagan is a complex field is an understatement,” Mann Said. Having said that, however, he emphasised that Kashagan was a momentous event for the energy of not only Kazakhstan, but of the entire world. He congratulated the Kazakh government and the AGIP consortium on achieving an agreement on the controversial issue of the future of the project. “I know that the negotiations were not easy, - Mann said. Reportedly, there are one or two outstanding issues, but I am sure a compromise will be found in the nearest future,” he said.
A little later, in a private discussion with the journalists, a high Kazakh oil official admitted that the long talks between the two sides on Kashagan were coming to an end. He advised that a final document outlining all the changes to the Kashagan project was to be signed on October 15. According to his information, the new agreement will state late 2013 as the final date for the first production at Kashagan, and the share of KazMunaiGas (KMG) will grow from 8.33 percent to 16.66 percent. He also talked about KMG’s special role in the consortium. So Kazakhstan will hope that the time of its big oil will come in five years. In his speech earlier, he said that the US is committed to further supporting the trans-Caspian routes through the Caucasus. “The United States of America have always been focused on the development of new alternative routes to transport hydrocarbons. We have always supported competition by means of alternatives routes,” Mann said.
He also said that by 2015, Europe’s requirements in gas could reach 100 million cubic metres, and that it is time now to ensure reliable supplies of hydrocarbons from the Caspian region. “On November 4, a new president of the USA will be elected. But whatever the election outcome, the new administration of the White House will continue to support the diversification of the energy routes,” Mann emphasised. According to him, the US also welcomed the expansion of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) that goes through the territory of Russia.