Extracts from a Reuters article by Mariya Gordeyeva published 21 May 2014 under the headline: Kashagan oilfield may not restart until 2016, Kazakh minister says
May 21 (Reuters) – Oil output at Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan field may not resume until early 2016, Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin said on Wednesday, urging foreign partners to start replacing leaky pipelines at the deposit. Production at Kashagan, the world’s biggest oil find in 35 years, started last September but halted in early October after the discovery of gas leaks in the $50 billion project’s pipeline network. The North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which develops the offshore field in the Caspian Sea, said last month that it did not expect to produce oil this year due to the leaks. “It (production) may restart by the end of 2015 if all goes well,” Karabalin told Reuters on the sidelines of the Astana Economic Forum. “Otherwise, it may turn out to be early 2016. NCOC includes Eni, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, China’s CNPC, Japan’s Inpex and Kazakh state-run company KazMunaiGas.
Comment received from an old EP hand
On Kashagan, I would like to know who signed off on the design of the pipelines that apparently were of the wrong specs and unable to handle H2S?
I guarantee you that there will be a document (detailed design) that is signed off by everyone and on the basis of which the piping has been ordered.
It is not important to know the individual who did so, but to which company did he (or she) belong? That company is presumably keeping a very low profile now.
And perhaps they were clever enough to have all the partners sign off on the design and purchase orders. I wonder who will pay the bill for this cock-up?
And this actually was a simple one to avoid. The composition of the fluids was known so there is no excuse to come up with the wrong specs for the pipework.
If I were a director I would be very nervous on the quality control of all the welding that was done. And will all the valves be replaced too or will there be a solution by injection corrosion inhibitors?
In that case you save on Capex but saddle the operator with higher Opex and with a high chance (read certainty) this corrosion inhibition will go wrong one or more times. Can anyone make a suggestion?
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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