Royal Dutch Shell will shut its Caspian office for the giant Kashagan oil field at the end of this month, effectively putting the crucial £30bn ($50bn) project on ice for at least two years.
Staff at Shell Development Kashagan in Atyrau have been laid off or relocated and the office closes on May 30. Photo: ALAMY
By Richard Orange, in Aktau 3:32PM BST 24 May 2011The move followed the Kazakh governments decision to reject a new lower-cost design for the crucial main development phase of the oilfield which has the potential to produce more than 1m barrels a day.
Staff at Shell Development Kashagan in Atyrau, a port on Kazakhstans Caspian coast, have been laid off or relocated over the past few weeks, and on May 30, the office will be closed.
The move follows a warning from Karim Massimov, Kazakhstan’s prime minister, that the project would not go ahead unless the disagreements on cost were overcome.