PROPOSED CHEVRON TENGIZ VENTURE STALLS AMID SOVIET POLITICAL SQUABBLE

The status of foreign investment in Soviet oil and gas joint ventures has reached a critical juncture. Just as the U.S. is considering granting most favored nation trade status to the U.S.S.R., the joint venture petroleum deal seen as the litmus test for such deals-Chevron Corp.'s proposed addition of supergiant Tengiz oil field to its Caspian Sea joint venture-has stalled amid controversy.