Home > JOGMEC's Activities > Financial Assistance (Oil and Natural Gas) > Major Projects : Central Asia
Central Asia
INPEX North Caspian Sea Ltd.
Offshore North Caspian Sea Block（Kazakhstan）
The Kashagan field, located in the Kazakhstan national waters of the Caspian Sea, is one of the largest oil fields found over the past 30 years.A multinational consortium of 7 international oil companies is conducting the development of this field as well as exploration works in the block (Offshore North Caspian Sea Block).The parties in this consortium are EniAgip, ExxonMobil, Shell, TOTAL, ConocoPhillips, KMG (the state oil company of Kazakhstan) and INPEX North Caspian Sea Ltd.
The first exploration well in the block was drilled in 1999, resulting in the massive discovery of the Kashagan field.Subsequent exploration drillings revealed four more giant fields; the Kalamkas, Kashagan Southwest, Aktote and Kairan fields.
A development plan for the Kashagan oil field was authorized in 2004, and the consortium is currently developing it.Crude oil production is scheduled to commence in 2008.
JOGMEC is assisting INPEX North Caspian Sea Ltd. with financial support.
INPEX Southwest Caspian Sea Ltd. and ITOCHU Oil Exploration (Azerbaijan) Inc.
ITOCHU Oil Exploration (BTC) Inc. and INPEX BTC Pipeline, Ltd.
Development of the Azeri / Chirag / Deepwater Gunashli Fields (Azerbaijan) and Construction of the BTC pipeline
The Azeri, Chirag and deepwater Gunashli (ACG) fields are highly promising oil fields located approximately 120 kilometers southeast of Baku, Azerbaijan. A multinational consortium of 10 international oil companies, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), is conducting operations in the ACG fields. The parties in this consortium are the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), BP, Chevron, Statoil, ExxonMobil, TPAO, Devon, Hess and two Japanese companies, INPEX (INPEX Southwest Caspian Sea Ltd.) and ITOCHU (ITOCHU Oil Exploration (Azerbaijan) Inc.).
Often referred to as the "contract of the century" because it is expected to involve investment of approximately US $14 billion, the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for these fields has a thirty-year term and covers an offshore contract area of 432 square kilometers.
Production started in November 1997 from Chirag-1, the initial platform in the ACG fields, and produced crude oil was delivered mainly through the Western Export Route pipeline to a terminal at Supsa, on the Georgian coast of the Black Sea.
In the Azeri field, the first production of oil was achieved at the Central Azeri Platform, and then the West and East Azeri platforms started oil production in December 2005 and October 2006, respectively. At present, the development of the Deep Water Gunashli field is progressing well and oil production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2008. As of January 2007, the total oil production from the contract area is approximately 650,000 barrels per day. Production is expected to be up to more than one million barrels per day by 2009 and reach peak rate (1.1 million barrels per day) by 2010.
Along with the development of the oil fields, construction of a pipeline for transporting crude oil produced in the ACG fields from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Ceyhan (Turkey) on the Mediterranean Coast (the BTC Pipeline) has continued. Construction of BTC Pipeline (1,768 km) started in 2003 and the first crude oil lifting was achieved in June 2006. The participants in this project are BP,SOCAR, CHEVRON,STATOIL,TPAO,ENI,TOTAL,ConocoPhillips,Hess ,ITOCHU (ITOCHU Oil Exploration (BTC)) and INPEX (INPEX BTC Pipeline, Ltd.)
JOGMEC is assisting the Japanese companies with equity financing and / or loan guarantees.
BTC Pipeline
