Offshore staff
ATYRAU, Kazakhstan – North Caspian Operating Co. (NCOC) has introduced sweet gas into the Kashagan field facilities on the artificial D Island offshore Kazakhstan.
A flare has also been lit. Both steps bring the project in the ultra-shallow water sector of the Caspian Sea closer to the start of production, which is expected later this year.
The next steps are pressurization of the offshore installations and completion of dynamic testing. A similar program started onshore several weeks ago at the Bolashak processing facilities.
Due to the project’s size and complexity, NCOC stresses, a long sequence of complex processes are needed to assure that each unit operates safely according to design specifications.
At the end of the sequential start-up, the integrated system will receive first oil and gas from a depth of around 4,200 m (13,779 ft) below the seabed. Then production will progressively ramp up to the design capacity from 180,000 b/d in the first stage to 370,000 b/d in the second stage.
7/17/2013
