ABU DHABI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's giant Kashaganoilfield will not be able to restart production before the endof 2013, the chief executive of French oil company Total, one of the partners in the project, said on Sunday.
Kazakhstan has been looking forward to revenues fromKashagan, the world's costliest oil project, which took nearly13 years and about $50 billion to complete. But two weeks afterits Sept. 11 launch, production was halted after a gas leak wasdetected on a pipeline.
It temporarily restarted on Oct. 6 but shut again a few dayslater when another leak was found.
"It will not restart before the end of the year," Christophede Margerie told a news conference in Abu Dhabi. "It's more thansimply repairing pipes."
The consortium operating the field includes Kazakh state oilfirm KazMunaiGas, Italy's ENI, U.S. major ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total, each holding 16.81 percent in Kashagan.