PARIS-- Total SA doesn't expect the giant Kashagan oil field in
Kazakhstan to yield much output this year, even if it resumes
production at all, after a particularly tricky-to-fix gas leak
forced the French company and its partners to stop production last
October at great cost.
The companies are waiting for the results of analyses and
ultrasound probes on the leaking pipeline to identify the problem
and find ways to fix it, Total's president for exploration and
production, Arnaud Breuillac, told reporters on the sidelines of an
oil conference in Paris on Friday.
"For now, we are waiting for the analyses. If there were to be
any production by the end of the year, it wouldn't be much," Mr.
Breuillac said. The investigations on the technical problem at
Kashagan is tricky as the area is still under a layer of ice, he
said.
The partners--which include Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell
PLC, Italy's Eni SpA and Total--are eager to resume output to
recoup some of the $50 billion they have invested in Kashagan over
the past 17 years.
The Kazakh government is also heavily invested in Kashagan,
having based its economic forecasts on revenue from the field,
whose output was expected to increase to 370,000 barrels a day from
180,000 barrels a day initially.
Mr. Breuillac said he is confident the Kazakh authorities will
remain patient with the project and that the companies involved are
putting all their resources into "fixing the problem as soon as
possible."
Geraldine Amiel and Selina Williams contributed to this
article.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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