Chevron postpones Tengiz Future Growth Project for the third time

The full startup of a project to expand production at Tengiz, a giant oil field in Kazakhstan run by Chevron, is set to be postponed until the end of 2024 due to delays in the final stages of the $45 billion development, Bloomberg reported, citing the oil company.

Chevron is rescheduling the full startup of the project, which is expected to boost oil output by 260,000 barrels per day (+40%), for the third time. At the same time, Europe is showing more appetite for crude oil from Kazakhstan due to the ban on imports of Russian oil imposed after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Tengiz Future Growth Project, which was supposed to be in full operation by 2022, has already exceeded the original budget of $37 billion after its start was postponed twice. The last planning scenario entails that the project, scheduled for June 2024, will be delayed by an additional six months, Chevron said in a statement.

The company noted that the startup activities weren’t as fast as expected.

«Tengizchevroil remains focused on a safe, reliable startup,» the company’s spokesperson said.

In the second quarter, Chevron Corp. reported a decrease in net profit by 1.9 times to $6.01 billion or $3.20 per share compared to $11.62 billion or $5.95 per share in the same period last year. The company has made dividend payouts of $2.8 billion and repurchased its shares for $4.4 billion (27 million shares in Q2 and 50 million since January 2023.)

Chevron also announced that all main projects of Tengizchevronoil, where the corporation has a 50% share, are 98% done while commissioning operations are at 66% done. According to the company costs and deadlines of these activities haven’t changed.

Tengizchevronoil is controlled by Chevron (50%), Exxon Mobil (25%), KazMunayGas (20%) and Lukoil (5%).