Kashagan pipelines final inspection scheduled for April

According to his words, there are currently identified some problems in the pipeline infrastructure of the deposit. More than 2 thousand welding joints of the pipeline were done. Specialists carried out intratube and ultrasound diagnostics of 6000 meters of pipeline. Production at Kashagan, the world's biggest oil discovery in 35 years, began in September but was stopped just weeks later after gas was found to be leaking from its pipelines. October 9, production from the field was re- suspended due to pipeline crack occurred under the influence of sulfide compounds. Initially it was assumed that Kashagan oil production will be 8 million tons in 2014 and will rise to 12 million tons in 2015, which will allow Kazakhstan to enter the top ten largest oil-producing countries. The field is being developed by a group of partners including Shell (16.81%), Exxon Mobil (16.81%), Total (16.81%), China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC-8.33%, which was acquired from ConocoPhillips for $5bn in 2013), Kazakh state-run oil company KazMunaiGas (16.81%), INPEX (7.56%) and AgipKCO (Eni) (16.81%).