(updates with quote from minister, background)
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (Thomson Financial) - The consortium of oil companies
developing the Kashagan field is looking to further delay the start of
production from the huge Caspian Sea deposit to 2012 or 2013, said Kazakh Energy
Minister Sauat Mynbayev.
"If there are delays, we will have to agree on the imposition of specific
penalties... This is why we will once again try to reach an agreement (between
us)," he said following a cabinet meeting.
Kashagan, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns, had initially
been due to come on stream in 2005. By early this year the scheduled start date
had slipped back to 2011.
The main Western partners of the consortium - Eni, Total, ExxonMobil and
Royal Dutch Shell - each hold 16.81 pct, as does Kazakh state-run energy company
KazMunaiGaz.
In January, an east-west standoff over the project's development was
resolved with KazMunaiGaz doubling its stake and the four western partners
cutting theirs. Additionally, Eni agreed to relinquish operational control of
the field once production starts.
ConocoPhillips and Japan's Inpex hold smaller stakes in the project.
Kashagan is thought to be the largest oilfield discovered anywhere since the
1960s, with an estimated 13 bln barrels of recoverable reserves.
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com
jms
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