NUR-SULTAN 

Maintenance works are planned to be held on a major Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan in August-September, the country’s Energy Ministry spokesman told The Tribune.

Works will result in a decline in oil production on the field by 50 percent. The overhaul will last for about a month and a half.

The Tengiz field is operated by the Tengizchevroil consortium, led by U.S. oil group Chevron. It also includes U.S. ExxonMobil, Russia’s LUKoil and Kazakhstan’s state energy firm KazMunayGaz.

The total explored reserves of the Tengiz reservoir are 3.2 billion tonnes and 200 million tonnes on the adjacent Korolev field.

Earlier this year, Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev said that maintenance works on Tengiz had been postponed to 2021 from 2020 “due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Separately, the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed the government to control the process of approving a plan for the full-scale development of the Kashagan oil and gas condensate field.

The Kashagan operated by the North Caspian Operating Company, includes Eni, ExxonMobil , CNPC, Royal Dutch Shell, Total , Inpex and KazMunayGaz.

It is planned to start construction of a $860-million gas processing plant with a capacity of 1.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year on Kashagan. 

Kazakhstan produced 21.1 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate in the first quarter of 2021, in compliance with the country’s obligations under the OPEC+ deal, the energy ministry said earlier this month.

In March alone, output was 7.3 million tonnes or 1.475 million barrels per day (bpd).

Output in March slightly exceeded Kazakhstan’s OPEC+ obligations, but the energy ministry said earlier this month that deviation from commitments would be compensated for in the future, taking into account major repairs for large projects in the summer.

Oil production at Tengiz stood at 6.7 million tonnes in January-March, at Kashagan – 3.7 million tonnes and at Karachaganak – 3.1 million tonnes.

The Central Asian country exported 16.6 million tonnes of oil in the first quarter.

Kazakhstan is set to increase oil output gradually from May under a fresh deal, that was agreed last month at a ministerial meeting of the OPEC+, a group of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers, including Kazakhstan.

OPEC+ had been cutting output by a little more than 7 million bpd to support prices and reduce oversupply, but members of the group agreed to ease cuts gradually by 350,000 bpd in May, another 350,000 bpd in June and around 450,000 bpd in July.

Kazakhstan is expected to produce 1.463 million bpd in May, 1.469 million bpd in June and 1.475 million bpd in July.

In 2021, Kazakhstan expects to produce 86 million tonnes of oil, including 25.3 million tonnes on Tengiz and 14.5 million tonnes on Kashagan. Oil exports projected at 67.5 million tonnes.