ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 25 (UPI) -- Royal Dutch Shell announced it would close its offices in Kazakhstan by the end of the month, effectively shutting down the massive offshore Kashagan oil field.
Kashagan at its discovery in 2000 was seen as the largest oil find in more than three decades. Commercial reserves there were estimated at 9 billion-13 billion barrels of oil.
Shell laid off or relocated all employees at its offices in the Kazakh port city of Atyrau and said it would close its offices there at the end of the month, The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London reports.
The government in Kazakhstan had rejected a design for a development phase at the field that could have yielded as much as 1 million bpd.
Italian energy company Eni, the chosen operator at Kashagan, estimates the field is one of the most expensive oil projects in the world.
Delays at Kashagan make production targets at Kashagan unlikely. Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said delays could cost the Kazakh government billions of dollars of revenue.
Natural resources from the Caspian region are expected to play a major role in Europe's market diversity though finances could get in the way, the International Energy Agency said.
