Full oil production following repairs at Tengiz oil field should resume by early Dec - Kazakh Energy Ministry

ASTANA. Nov 22 (Interfax) - Full oil production following repairs at the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan should resume by early December, the Energy Ministry told Interfax.

"It is provisionally expected that TCO [Tengizchevroil LLP] will reach full production by the beginning of December," the Energy Ministry said.

"The repairs are not affecting production plans at Tengiz as according to the outlook, this is ahead of schedule," the ministry said.

The ministry said the repairs at the field were still ongoing and a partial start-up has been carried out.

Oil production at the Tengiz field is now 10,000 tonnes per day below the target, with planned output due to be reached in the very near future, KazMunayGas CEO Askhat Khasenov said on Friday. "Tengiz is currently producing 90% of its daily output," he said.

Production at the Tengiz plant was partly suspended on October 26 to carry out repair work on waste heat boiler E-401A of Unit 400. Localized corrosion damage was discovered during the equipment inspection. The Energy Ministry said earlier that the repairs would be completed by November 23.

The Tengiz oil and gas field is one of the largest in Kazakhstan, with oil reserves of 3.1 billion tonnes. It is located in the Atyrau region. According to the company's latest data, the field produced 14.4 million tonnes of oil (114.6 million barrels) in January-June 2024, which is 3.4% less than in the first half of 2023.

The partners in Tengizchevroil LLP are Chevron (50%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc (25%), Kazakhstan through KazMunayGas (20%) and Lukoil (5%).