MILAN, April 27 (Reuters) - Output at Kazakhstan's hugeKashagan oilfield may not start until 2016, the Financial Timessaid on Sunday, citing Kazakhstan's minister for economy andbudget planning.
Erbolat Dossayev told the FT he hoped production could berestarted late next year. "But if not, we will wait until 2016,"the FT cited him as saying in an interview.
Production at the offshore deposit, the world's biggest oilfind in 35 years, started in September but was halted in earlyOctober after the detection of gas leaks in the $50 billionproject's pipeline network.
Earlier this month French major Total said no oilproduction was to be expected from Kashagan this year and it wasnot likely to yield much next year either.
In March, Kazakh officials slapped a $737 million ecologicaldamage fine on the consortium running the field, which includesEni, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell,Total, and Kazakh state-run KazMunaiGas. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Sandra Maler)