When whether enough response capability was in place, in light of a recent leak at the Kashagan field off Kazhakstan, John Scott, regional Sales Manager at Polarcus DMCC commented, "I think the short answer is no, they don't have the current level of support service that they need, even for first oil.
"From the projects that are ongoing there is a paucity of assets in the area and I don't think that's going to change very quickly… Kazhakstan is waiting for phase two of Kashagan to be unravelled, the direction for phase two is not clear yet… nothing is going to change materially from now until the plans for phase two are clear." he added.
Kashagan field was the largest offshore reserve discovery in 30 years when it was found in 2000. Originally due to come online in 2005, the field has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. On its most recent schedule, the field was on course to produce around 75,000 barrels per day by October, until it was shut-in last week following a gas leak.
Gary Reay, Marine Technical Advisor, BP Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey commented, "In the Caspian, based in Baku there's government organisation called CBERS, Caspain Based Emergency Response Services, [but] there's no unified agency within the Caspian to deal with emergency response. It's very much led on a local basis between the operator and the local govenment organisation."
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