Kazakhstan needs $ 1.7 bn in investments to develop Caspian shelf

Dec 30, 2003 01:00 AM

Kazakhstan estimates it will cost about $ 1.7 bn to develop the Caspian offshore hydrocarbons block Tyub-Karagan,
deputy general director of the state-owned offshore oil company KazMunaiTeniz Askar Balzhanov said. 
Balzhanov was speaking in Aktau at a public hearing on the preliminary result of environmental impact in carrying out
oil operations in the Caspian Sea's Tyub-Karagan and Atash sections. 

The total volume of investments needed to implement the Tyub-Karagan project is about $ 1.7 bn, with $ 3.5 bn put
into the country's budget for the entire life of the project, which is thirty-six years, Balzhanov said. 
Deductions for the development of the region's social infrastructure are 1 % of the annual total costs for the
project, but not less than $ 500,000 a year.  Staff training will cost $ 300,000 a year in the first four months, then
$ 500,000 a year in the final period, he said. 

The initial program for surveying and evaluating Tyub-Karagan and Atash is ready, Balzhanov announced.  After a
license is received on underground use, 2D seismic exploration work of 655 km will be carried out in the Tyub-Karagan
section and one exploratory well will be drilled. 
If commercially profitable oil reserves are discovered, the next step will be to carry out 3D surveying and drill
several evaluation wells.  A detailed 2D seismic exploration of 1,057 km will be conducted in the Atash sector and one
exploratory well will be drilled. 

The Tyub-Karagan and Atash sectors are in the centre of Kazakhstan's section of the Caspian Sea. 
Tyub-Karagan is 1.168 mm sq km and located 40 km northwest of the Kazakh port city of Bautino.  Atash is over 8,400 sq
km and its north-western, eastern and south-eastern sections are bordered by dry land. 

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