MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - Oil output at Kazakhstan’s largest Tengiz field rose to 810,000 barrels on March 11, but averaged 495,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the first 10 days of this month on average, lagging the capacity target, two industry sources said.
According to the sources, average production at Tengiz on March 1–10 was 16% lower than in February, when output stood at around 590,000 bpd.
Tengiz's operator, U.S. Chevron-led Tengizchevroil $(TCO)$, is restoring output after an emergency shutdown on January 18 caused by a fire.
However, output recovery at Tengiz is capped by loading constraints via the main export route — the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system — due to adverse weather conditions and the threat of drone attacks.
TCO is looking to use alternative export routes to recover output.
Traders said the company plans to export 120,000 metric tons of crude in March from Tengiz to the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan $(BTC)$ pipeline. TCO is also seeking an opportunity to ship a 100,000‑tonne KEBCO cargo via Russia’s Ust‑Luga port this month, traders said.
Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov told reporters on Wednesday that oil production at the Tengiz field had recovered to 120,000 tons per day, equivalent to 955,000 bpd. He did not specify the exact date.
Daily deliveries of Tengiz crude into the CPC pipeline system reached 932,000 bpd on March 10, according to the sources data, compared with 700,000 bpd at the end of February.
Crude deliveries by the producing company may differ from production volumes, as they include inventories held at its facilities.
TCO does not comment on details of its production and export activities.
Kazakhstan's state oil pipeline operator KazTransOil did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Last year, TCO increased crude output following the completion of the Future Growth Project $(FGP)$ to 39.01 million tons, compared with 27.8 million tons in 2024.
TCO’s main shareholder is Chevron (50%), with stakes also held by Exxon Mobil XOM.N (25%), KazMunayGas KMGZ.KZ (20%) and Russia's Lukoil (5%).
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Susan Fenton)