Karachaganak
The Karachaganak field is one of the world’s largest gas and condensate fields, located in the West Kazakhstan region, it holds estimated hydrocarbons initially in place (HIIP) of 1.7 billion tons of liquid hydrocarbons and more than 1.7 trillion cubic meters of gas. The field was discovered in 1979, and pilot development of the field began in 1984.
The Karachaganak project is being developed within the framework of the Final Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) concluded between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RoK) and the Alliance of Companies represented by British Gas (Shell) with 29.25% share, ENI with 29.25% share, Chevron 18% share, Lukoil with 13.5% share and JSC NC "KazMunayGas" with 10% share. The Agreement was signed on November 18, 1997 for a period of 40 years and came into force on January 27, 1998.
Current state
Currently, the project is in the Stage 2M Field Maintenance phase, focusing on maintaining the annual production volumes achieved during Stage 2.
The majority of the extracted liquid hydrocarbons are exported through the CPC pipeline system, while smaller volumes of Karachaganak oil are transported via the Atyrau–Samara pipeline. Additionally, minor quantities of unstable condensate are delivered to the low-tonnage unit of JSC "Condensate."
In 2023, hydrocarbon production in Karachaganak reached 12.1 million tons of oil and 22.4 billion cubic meters of gas. The volume of gas injection into the reservoir is 12.7 billion cubic meters of gas.
Investment projects
According to production indicators, it should be noted that the gas factor increases at the field as hydrocarbons are extracted and reservoir pressure drops.
The field development plan envisages the implementation of a number of investment projects aimed at increasing sour gas processing and reinjection capacity, which will allow to maintain the production plateau at the Karachaganak field at the achieved level.
The Karachaganak Expansion Project Stage 1A (KEP-1A) aims to further maintain liquid hydrocarbon production levels by commissioning the5th gas injection compressor.
Implementation period: 2020 – 2025.
The Karachaganak Expansion Project Stage 1B (KEP-1B) aims to further maintain liquid hydrocarbon production levels by commissioning the 6th gas injection compressor.
Implementation period: 2022 – 2028.
Completed investment projects to maintain the production plateau
As part of the investment projects to maintain the production plateau of liquid hydrocarbons at a level of 12 million tons per year, a series of short-term and medium-term projects were implemented at the Karachaganak field from 2018 to 2022. These projects were aimed at increasing gas processing and utilization capacities (KPC Gas De-bottlenecking (KGDBN) project, 5th Trunkline and Gas Reinjection Wells projects, 4th Gas Reinjection Compressor (4IC));
THE KARACHAGANAK GAS DE-BOTTLENECKING (KGDBN) project is aimed at increasing the gas processing capacity at the KPC by an additional 4 billion m3/year.
The construction and commissioning of this project have been completed.
Implementation period: 2018–2021.
THE 4TH REINJECTION COMPRESSOR PROJECT (4IC) aims to increase the annual average daily volume of gas reinjected into the reservoir and raise the liquid hydrocarbon production.
The construction and commissioning of this project have been completed.
Implementation period: 2018 – 2021.
THE 5TH TRUNKLINE AND GAS REINJECTION WELLS. The project aims to increase hydrocarbon recovery throughout the field by maximizing the annual average daily volume of gas injected into the reservoir.
The construction and commissioning of this project have been completed.
Implementation period: 2018 – 2020.
THE 6TH TRUNKLINE. The project has the objective to maximize liquids recovery by increasing the field injection area and redistributing injection gas from Central part into South West area of the field.
The construction and commissioning of this project have been completed.
Implementation period: 2020 – 2023.