Kazakhstan state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas said Friday that it has signed an agreement to join a Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) subsidiary responsible for managing production at the giant Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea. "As a result of signing this agreement, KMG and Shell have become official partners in managing production operations, which allows the partners to join their efforts for timely implementation of the project," the Kazakh company said. KazMunaiGas, or KMG, said it will be an equal partner with Shell in NC Production Operations Company. "Presently, NCPOC is actively involved in the implementation of the project," it said.
Kashagan is being developed by the North Caspian Operating Company consortium, which is also developing the Kairan, Aktoty and Kalamkas oil fields, and will be Kazakhstan's largest oil producer in the next few years. The consortium is expected to start commercial production from 2012. The consortium comprises KMG, Shell, ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM), Japan's Inpex Corp. (IPXHY), France's Total S.A. (TOT) and Eni SpA (E) of Italy.
