LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Production from Kazakhstan'sgiant Kashagan oilfield is expected to resume in 2017, more thanthree years after being suspended due to a pipeline leak, stakeholder Royal Dutch Shell said.
Operations at the major field, expected to reach productionof 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent, started in September 2013and were halted a month later due to gas leaks from the sour gaspipeline.
In its annual report on Thursday, Shell said "replacementactivities are ongoing, with production expected to restart in2017."
Italian oil service company Saipem said last monthit had won a contract to lay the replacement pipelines atKashagan worth around $1.8 billion. It said it planned to finishthe work by the end of 2016.
Shell holds an 16.8 percent stake in the offshore field inthe Caspian sea which is operated by a consortium ofinternational oil companies and Kazakh state oil and gas firmKazMunaiGas. (Reporting by Ron Bousso, editing by William Hardy)
