Speaking to Upstream on the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress, TMK board chairman Dmitry Pumpyansky said that the company is confident it has the requisite steel alloy blend to withstand aggressive nitrogen sulphide that is produced together with hydrocarbons on the field.

Onshore pipelines are also expected to be replaced, energy minister Uzakbay Karabalin said earlier at the Moscow event.

The Kashagan field, operated by an international consortium led by US supermjaor ExxonMobil, is located about 80 kilometres from shore, and is the largest offshore deposit in Kazakhstan.

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