ABU DHABI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's giant Kashaganoilfield will not be able to restart production before the endof 2013, said the chief executive of French oil company Total, one of the partners in the project.
Kazakhstan has been looking forward to revenues fromKashagan, which took nearly 13 years and about $50 billion tocomplete. It is the world's costliest oil project but also thebiggest global oil find in decades - forecast to total 8 milliontonnes next year, rising to 12 million tonnes in 2015.
However, production was halted two weeks after its Septemberlaunch when a gas leak was found. Another leak was found inOctober after a brief restart.
On Sunday Christophe de Margerie told a news conference inAbu Dhabi that Kashagan, in the Caspian Sea off westernKazakhstan, would not be able to start production again beforethe end of the year.
"It's more than simply repairing pipes," he said, adding theconsortium must be sure before restarting production that thewhole piping system would operate safely over the long term.
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 own 16.81 percent.
Japan's Inpex 1605.T owns 7.56 percent. China NationalPetroleum Corp CNPET.UL (CNPC) acquired a 8.33 percent stakethis year.
Kazakhstan is the second-largest post-Soviet producer afterRussia - which holds 3 percent of global recoverable oilreserves - and hopes Kashagan can help it join the world'ssuperleague of oil producers.
According to earlier comments by top Kazakh oil industryofficials, the field's daily output before the second leak hadexceeded 60,000 barrels per day (bpd). The field had been due toachieve commercial output of 75,000 bpd this month.
The deal, estimated to be worth $5 billion, followedKazakhstan's decision in July to use its pre-emptive rights tobuy an 8.40 percent stake from U.S. oil major ConocoPhillipsCOP.N in the field for a similar price.
