Il Grande Buco di Kashagan: cattive notizie dal fronte orientale

Cattive notizie da Kashagan, il pozzo nel bel mezzo del mar caspio, in Kazakhstan, dal quale ci si aspettavano grandi cose, ma che si sta sempre di più ridimensionando. Alle prime esplorazioni, era stato stimato in 80 miliardi di barili, il che aveva dato origine a molti entusiasmi e, secondo alcuni, all'intera guerra in Afghanistan. Poi, a una trivellazione di prova, le stime si erano abbassate a meno di 15 miliardi di barili.

Oggi, arriva la notiza che il giacimento non entrerà in produzione entro il 2008, come previsto, ufficialmente per "motivi di sicurezza degli impianti". In realtà, si legge fra le righe che ci sono enormi problemi.

Un brutto colpo per ENI che aveva fatto pivotare tutta la sua strategia petrolifera sul giacimento di Kashagan. D'altra parte, c'erano delle ragioni per cui le altre majors, come Exxon e BP avevano abbandonato l'impresa già diversi anni fa. Tempi duri per tutti, del resto....


Da Bloomberg del 6 Ottobre

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Total Says Kashagan Field Production Faces Delay as Costs Rise

By Eduard Gismatullin and Nariman Gizitdinov

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA said production at the Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan, one of the five biggest in the world, will likely be delayed beyond its planned 2008 start and the project will cost more than forecast.

The project's design will have to be changed because existing plans don't meet adequate safety standards, Philippe Rochoux, general director of Total Exploration and Production in Kazakhstan, said today in Almaty, Kazakhstan's financial capital. A decision on new designs and the timetable for starting operations will be made by year's end.

``It could be delayed by several years, 2008 is not possible,'' Rochoux said today on the sidelines of a conference in Almaty. ``Costs are going to be higher.''

Kashagan is a key part of Kazakhstan's plans to almost triple oil production to 3.6 million barrels a day by 2015. The field in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan is the biggest oil discovery in the past 30 years.

Eni, Europe's fourth-largest oil and gas company, in March said developing the field in Kazakhstan would cost between $4 billion and $5 billion more than forecast due to a weaker U.S. dollar and the higher cost of equipment. The company in 2004 put the development cost at $29 billion over 15 years.

The Kazakh government had planned for Kashagan to start in 2008.

Agip, Eni's oil unit, leads a group of partners, which include Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total and KazMunaiGaz, Kazakhstan's state oil company, in developing Kashagan.

Read the whole article at:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a9zDGxOvkMJY&refer=europe