Kashagan Costs To Rise Another $7 Billion To $38 Billion Per Kazakh Oil Ministry - Upstream Online

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The cost of developing Kazakhstan's huge Kashagan oilfield will rise by $7 billion to $38 billion, head of state oil & gas company KazMunaiGas, Kairgeldy Kabyldin, said today.

In July, Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev said the costs would fall by at least $1 billion from an estimate of $31 billion. "The cost of (Kashagan) developing is estimated at $38 billion," Reuters cited Kabyldin as telling reporters today without elaborating.

Kashagan is run by ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Eni, Total, KazMunaiGas and Inpex Holdings.

The oilfield, in the north-east of the Caspian Sea, is the world's biggest oil deposit found since the discovery of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska in the 1960s. It is due to come on stream in 2012.

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