Maersk Oil entered Kazakhstan in 2000, acquiring a 60% interest in the onshore Temir Block but had relinquished acreage in 2004 and sold the Saigak field in 2011. In 2002, Maersk Oil acquir/ed a 60% interest and operatorship of the Dunga Block with Partex Corporation (20%) and Oman Oil Company Limited (20%). The acreage (283.25km2) is operated under a Production Sharing Contract signed in 1994.

The Dunga Phase I development proceeded in 2007 and Phase II was approved in 2011. Average oil production from the Dunga field is currently some 6,000 barrels of oil a day.

Phase II will start in 2012. Maersk Oil and its partners will drill 198 vertical wells. The project also includes a major facilities upgrade and in total will cost about USD 1 billion. By the end of Phase II, production is expected to rise to 35,000 bpd.

Phase II will start in 2012. Maersk Oil and its partners will drill 198 vertical wells. The project also includes a major facilities upgrade and in total will cost about USD 1 billion. By the end of Phase II, production is expected to rise to 35,000 bpd.

Maersk Oil worked closely with the pumping service company to tailor a jet-assisted fracturing technique specifically for application in the Dunga Field that reduced the well completion and stimulation times to 4 days from 30 days previously. A new long-life jetting tool was co-developed and field proven allowing 10 propped fracturing treatments to be placed in a single well in a single trip.