This spring Kazakhstan should celebrate one of the most eagerly awaited events in its post-Soviet history, first oil from its supergiant Kashagan field in the North Caspian (EOF Nov.28'12). But Kashagan's start-up has come at least five years too late for the Central Asian republic, which has watched with growing frustration as the multinational-led development consortium has missed deadline after deadline. Project costs have meanwhile mushroomed to more than $40 billion, as the contractors struggle to cope with the scale of the technical and environmental challenges.
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