* Fresh accident points to technical complexity of ambitiousproject
* Kashagan consortium must launch "commercial output" thismonth
ALMATY, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's giant offshoreKashagan oilfield halted output after a gas leak was detected onOct. 9, a consortium developing it said on Friday, the secondstoppage there since its launch a month ago.
The new accident at Kashagan, which is expected to sharplyramp up Kazakhstan's oil output in the coming years, points tothe complexity of this ambitious project being developed in theshallow Caspian Sea that freezes over during the harsh winter.
The leak was detected on a pipeline running from theartificial D Island to the Bolashak processing plant ashore, theNorth Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) said.
"As a preventive measure the respective part of the pipelinehas been depressurised and has been flushed with nitrogen tomake it accessible for inspection," it said. "No harm to peopleor environment was observed."
Repair work continued, it said, without giving a date forthe resumption of production.
Output at the field, one of the world's biggest oil finds indecades, was launched on Sept. 11. A similar gas leak haltedproduction two weeks later. Kashagan then restarted productionon Oct. 6.
NCOC has to achieve a "commercial output" level of 75,000barrels per day this month to meet its contractual obligations.
When the field resumed operations after the previousincident, it was producing 61,000 bpd, Sauat Mynbayev, head ofKazakh state oil and gas firm KazMunaiGas, said on Tuesday.
It took about 13 years and some $50 billion to launchKashagan after years of delays caused by technical problems andcost overruns.
Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy and thesecond-largest post-Soviet oil producer after Russia, pins hopesof future propesrity on Kashagan whose recoverable reserves areestimated at between 9 billion and 13 billion barrels of oil.
It expects its oil output to rise to 82 million tonnes thisyear from 79.2 million tonnes in 2012.
Kashagan alone is forecast to contribute 8 million tonnes ofoil output next year and a further 12 million tonnes in 2015.
KazMunaiGas, Italy's ENI, U.S. majorExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and France'sTotal each hold 16.81 percent stakes in Kashagan.Japan's Inpex owns 7.56 percent.
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) acquired a8.33 percent stake this year. The deal, estimated to be worth $5billion, followed Kazakhstan's decision in July to use itspre-emptive rights to buy an 8.40 percent stake from U.S. oilmajor ConocoPhillips in the field for a similar price.
