Kazakhstan has extended the contracts with the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the consortium of companies in charge of developing the giant Kashagan oil project in the Caspian Sea. When the consortium will sanction a new phase of the project, it will be awarded an extension. The current production sharing agreement (PSA) for Kashagan will expire in 2041 but significant delays in the project, initially slated for 2005 and now planned for 2016, mean that companies may have less time to recover their costs. Oil production started in September 2013 but was suspended a few weeks later. Production should resume in 2016 at up to 350,000 bbl/d; it could ramp up to 450,000 bbl/d if the consortium approves a new phase (CC01, to be sanctioned in 2016), and potentially up to 900,000 bbl/d and 1.2 mb/d. The initial plan of 1.5 mb/d seems now unlikely to be realised.
NCOC consist of national gas company KazMunaiGaz (KMG, 16.877%), Eni, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total (16.807% each), CNPC (8.333%) and Inpex (7.563%).