Kazakhstan has launched oil production at the Kashagan offshore field in the Caspian Sea.
The Kazakh prime minister's website quoted Energy Minister Qanat Bozumbaev as saying on October 12 that the first oil from the field has been extracted and was being accumulated in KazTransOil reservoirs.
According to Bozumbaev, some 90,000 barrels of crude were being produced per day.
Production at Kashagan, the world's biggest oil discovery in almost 40 years, was delayed for a decade before it began in September 2013. But it was stopped just weeks later after gas was found to be leaking from its pipelines.
The North Caspian Operating Company that runs the project had to rebuild the pipelines to resume operations.
Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Eni, Inpex, CNPC, and the Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGaz hold stakes in the firm.
