Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov told Reuters that the giant offshore Kashagan oilfield will resume production of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of October after maintenance.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week in Moscow, he also said that all three mooring points at the Black Sea terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) will likely resume operations before the end of this month.
Production at Kashagan, one of the world's largest oil fields, sharply declined on Aug. 3 due to a gas release. Kashagan had planned to boost output to 500,000 bpd after upgrades.
The Kashagan consortium includes Eni, ExxonMobil, CNPC, Shell, TotalEnergies, Inpex, and Kazakh state energy firm KazMunayGaz.
"Production at Kashagan has been curtailed due to some 'nuances' with the equipment. We are conducting repair work," the minister said in comments cleared for publication on Thursday.
He said last month that Kashagan would return to output at usual levels "in October at best", while CPC was seen resuming full operations before Oct. 10-15.
Akchulakov also said that Kazakhstan currently exports some 11-11.5 million tonnes of oil per year to China, with pipeline capacity of 20 million.
"If there is a wish, this could be raised," he said.
(Reuters - Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin)
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