Kazakhstan says Chevron promises Tengiz will be operated reliably and safely

Kazakhstan said on Thursday that U.S. oil major Chevron CVX.N had assured the government it would take measures to ensure the reliable and safe operation of facilities at the Tengiz oilfield.

Kazakhstan said on Wednesday it was restarting the huge Tengiz oilfield in stages, aiming to reach full production in a week after three unexplained electrical fires earlier this month cost it 7.2 million barrels of oil.

Kazakhstan's oil sector, which accounts for around 2% of daily global supply, has been hit by a series of setbacks in recent months, with the outage at Tengiz compounded by the fallout from drone strikes on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which carries the bulk of Kazakh oil exports out via Russia.

At a meeting with Derek Magness, managing director of Chevron's Eurasia Business Unit, Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar expressed concern about the incidents at the Tengiz field, which led to a temporary halt in production, the government said.

"Chevron management provided information on the measures taken to eliminate the consequences of the incidents and gradually increase oil production," it said.

"Chevron management also assured that it would take specific actions to prevent similar situations in the future and ensure the reliable and safe operation of facilities."

Tengiz is operated by Tengizchevroil, a joint venture between Chevron, Exxon Mobil XOM.N, KazMunayGas KMGZ.KZ and Lukoil LKOH.MM. Chevron owns 50%, Exxon Mobil 25%, Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas 20% and Russia's Lukoil 5%.

On Monday, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with Exxon Mobil, urging the U.S. energy company to accelerate work to deal with the Tengiz outage and prevent similar incidents in future.

-Marina Bobrova/Reuters