ALMATY (Sputnik) — Kazakhstan has shipped its first crude for export from Kashagan, one of the world's largest oil fields, the nation's Energy Ministry announced on Friday.
"Today, the first shipment of oil exports from the Kashagan field, produced within the start-up operations, in the amount of 7,700 tonnes was sent to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium," the energy ministry announced in a statement.
According to the statement, a further 18,800 tonnes were shipped through a pipeline operated by state-controlled firm KazTransOil, and 22.8 million cubic meters of marketable gas were supplied to the pipeline system of the Kazakh owned Intergas Central Asia.
Commercial oil production at Kashagan started in September, 2013. However, production was suspended due to defects found in pipes over significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide.
Kashagan is one of the largest oil fields discovered in the last 40 years. According to the ministry, its recoverable reserves are estimated at 9-13 billion barrels of oil.
