Kazakhstan’s Tengizchevroil (TCO) has suspended production at the Tengiz and Korolev oil fields following fire-related damage to power distribution systems, according to media reports citing company representatives.
The incident prompted precautionary measures that included temporarily shutting in production at both fields on 18 January. Reuters reported on 20 January, citing industry sources, that the shutdown could last between 1 week and 10 days.
TCO said no injuries were reported and that it is working with the government to mitigate the impact of the incident.
Chevron operates Tengiz through its 50% stake in the TCO joint venture. Other partners include Kazakhstan’s national oil company KazMunayGas (20%), ExxonMobil (25%), and Lukoil (5%).
Chevron completed a $47-billion expansion project at Tengiz last year, boosting production capacity by about 260,000 B/D. The project lifted planned fieldwide capacity to roughly 1 million BOE/D, the company said at the time.
Tengiz is one of the world’s largest oil fields and is known for what is widely considered as the thickest single-trap reservoir ever developed, with an oil column measuring roughly 1 mile in height.