Kazakhstan newspaper Ak Zhayik wrote that since June 2014 the Bolashak oil and gas refining installation, which is a part of the Kashagan North Caspian project, will be closed down temporarily for two years. Thus, this information has confirmed statement of the US journalist Steve LeVine, who wrote for Quartz portal, that the pipelines for the Kashagan project must be replaced, because they proved to be defective.
Ak Zhayik wrote that mainly professional operators will keep on working on the Bolashak plant, because they will have to periodically re-launch the installations to make sure that they do not become rusted.
On the Bolashak plant the Kashagan oil had to be refined till the commercial condition. About 320,000 barrels of oil was extracted on the Kashagan field since its launching, which was stored in the reservoirs on the territory of the plant.
Development of the field was already suspended in 2007: the Kazakhstan government has accused the consortium operated by Eni company of customs violations, causing damage to environment and creating the threat of fire. It has been also announced that the cost of the project has gone up from $57 up to $136 billion. Eni stated that time that it has underestimated the scale of the project and submitted the revised estimates to the government.
Ak Zhayik newspaper wrote that in May 2012 Milan Prosecutor’s Office suspected Eni of giving a huge bribe for conclusion of the contracts for the Kashagan field development. According to the investigation, the bribe of as minimum $20 million was paid to some Kazakhstan politician at the first stage of the Kashagan field development till spring 2007.
Saipem, Eni’s daughter company involved in the corruption scandal in Algeria, and Yersai Caspian Contractor, subdivision of Lancaster Group established by the Kazakhstan Ministers Nurlan Kapparov and Yerbolat Dosayev, have installed and welded the pipes that need replacement. The pipes have been delivered by various companies, one of which was Japanese metallurgic giant Sumitomo, writes www.Fergana.ru.
