The president of Kazakhstan insists ‘serious’ output from the much-delayed Kashagan oil will begin this year.
The £28billion project was halted last October, just weeks after finally starting production, because of defects found in the pipes carrying dangerous gases from the field.
But while the operating company, a venture that includes Exxon and Shell, is still carrying out tests on the site before approving resumption, President Nursultan Nazarbayev insisted it would be fixed and production would resume.
“Everything’s in place: output, drilling, the oil and gas, a gas-processing plant,” he said
“The pipeline will be repaired and will work.”
The world’s largest discovery in 40 years, Kashagan promised to make Kazakhstan one of the world’s top 10 oil producers.
The project, which included the construction of man made islands in the Caspian Sea, has been beset by cost-overruns and delays, postponing billions in revenue for the government.
Nazarbayev, president since the former Soviet Republic’s independence in 1991, plans on economic growth of at least 6 percent a year through 2018, helped by production at Kashagan.
Once fully operational, the field is expected to produce more than 370,000 barrels a day.
Watch the interview with President Nazarbayev below