Kashagan oil production to resume in 2017 -Shell

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - Production from Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan oilfield is expected to resume in 2017, more than three years after being suspended due to a pipeline leak, stake holder Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) said.

Operations at the major field, expected to reach production of 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent, started in September 2013 and were halted a month later due to gas leaks from the sour gas pipeline.

In its annual report on Thursday, Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) said "replacement activities are ongoing, with production expected to restart in 2017."

Italian oil service company Saipem (Other OTC: SAPMY - news) said last month it had won a contract to lay the replacement pipelines at Kashagan worth around $1.8 billion. It said it planned to finish the work by the end of 2016.

Shell holds an 16.8 percent stake in the offshore field in the Caspian sea which is operated by a consortium of international oil companies and Kazakh state oil and gas firm KazMunaiGas. (Reporting by Ron Bousso, editing by William Hardy)