Kashagan Field

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Kashagan Field is an oil field located in Kazakhstan. The field is situated in the northern part of the Caspian sea close to the Kazakhstan city of Atyrau. The field was discovered in 2000. The field is operated by Eni under the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement. The Agreement is made up of 7 companies consisting of ENI (18.52%), Shell (18.52%) , Total (18.52%), ExxonMobil (18.52%), ConocoPhillips (9.26%), KazMunayGas (8.33%), Inpex (8.33%). The original group included BG Group instead of KazMunayGas; however BG sold its stake to the partners in 2004.

One of the larger discoveries of this decade, it is estimated that the Kashagan Field contains up to 18 billion barrels of recoverable reserves of oil. The field faces a number of challenges: it is offshore in a particularly harsh environment, and it is located in a potentially volatile geopolitical climate. Production is expected to begin either in 2008 or 2009, later than the initial plan date of 2005. It has designated as the main source of supply for the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline.^{[citation needed]}