Development of the initial stage of the giant Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea will cost $38 billion, the chief executive of Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas said Wednesday.

"$21 billion has been spent while the cost of the experimental development of the oil field is $38 billion," Kairgeldy Kabyldin told an oil and gas conference here.

He said that the Kashagan consortium, which includes KazMunaiGas and major international oil companies such as ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), Eni SpA (E), and Total S.A. (TOT.FR), was on track to start commercial production at Kashagan by the end of 2012, as scheduled.

Kashagan will produce 450,000 barrels of oil per day at the initial stage and will boost its output to 1.5 million b/d when it reaches the third and final stage of its development. It will be Kazakhstan's largest oil producing field.

The government had previously said the total cost of the Kashagan development was $136 billion.

Consortium Web site: www.ncoc.kz

-By Kadyr Toktogulov, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 701 726 4327, kadyr.toktogulov@dowjones.com