Unscheduled repairs at Tengiz oil field, begun in late Oct, to take until end of year - Kazakh energy minister

ASTANA. Dec 17 (Interfax) - Unscheduled repairs that began at Tengiz, Kazakhstan's largest oil and gas field, in late October should be completed by the end of the year, Kazakh Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev said in a report distributed at a government meeting.

Repairs "at the second-generation plant of the Tengiz field due to an internal vapor leak since October 26 this year" are among the reasons for lowering Kazakhstan's 2024 oil production forecast, the report said.

It said the repairs would take until the end of the year.

The Energy Ministry said earlier that it was provisionally expected that project operator Tengizchevroil would resume oil production by early December. It said later that the repairs at the Tengiz were not completed on schedule and were ongoing.

Production at the Tengiz second-generation 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%).