Tengizchevroil (TCO) has postponed annual maintenance of Tengiz field to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delay slows work on TCO’s Tengiz expansion project after multiple positive tests for coronavirus at a workers’ camp near the field.
Tengiz’s estimated recoverable crude reserves measure 6-9 billion bbl. Current production capacity is 540,000 b/d of crude oil, 750 MMcfd of natural gas, and more than 40,000 b/d of NGL. TCO’s expansion, the integrated Future Growth Project-Wellhead Pressure Management Project (FGP-WPMP), is designed to increase crude oil production from Tengiz by 260,000 b/d.
Chevron Corp. in 2019 increased FGP-WPMP’s cost estimate to $45.2 billion from $36.8 billion. The FGP will use sour gas injection technology, developed during TCO’s previous expansion in 2008, to increase daily crude oil production while the WPMP will extend the field’s production plateau and keep existing plants producing at full capacity (OGJ Online, Nov. 4, 2019).
Chevron owns 50% of TCO, with Exxon Mobil Corp. (25%), Russia’s Lukoil (5%), and Kazakh-state KazMunayGaz (20%).
About the Author
Christopher E. Smith
Editor in Chief
Chris joined Oil & Gas Journal in 2005 as Pipeline Editor, having already worked for more than a decade in a variety of oil and gas industry analysis and reporting roles. He became editor-in-chief in 2019 and head of content in 2025.