Chevron to Increase Output at Huge Oil Field in Kazakhstan

Chevron said Friday that it had completed an expansion at its Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan intended to increase production this year to around one million barrels a day, approaching 1 percent of global supplies.Chevron, which recently moved its headquarters from near San Francisco to Houston, continues to plow money into oil production, shrugging off concerns that demand will weaken as consumers shift to electric vehicles and cleaner energy.“We know that the global demand for oil is going to continue to grow,” Clay Neff, president of Chevron international exploration and production, said in an interview.Tengiz, one of the world’s most prolific oil fields, has been producing oil for around 30 years.Yet crews operating on the scrubby plains where wild horses roam are about to ramp up output by around 40 percent.

The first additional barrels are now coming through, Chevron said in a news release.“It’s quite a remarkable oil field and one that will produce for decades to come,” Mr.Neff said.The additional production will add oil to a global market that some analysts say will struggle to accommodate more production this year, potentially weighing on prices, which are now about $79 a barrel for Brent crude, the international benchmark.

Kazakhstan is a member of the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC Plus oil cartel, which has pressured Kazakhstan to curb its output.At the same time, President Trump is exhorting operators in the United States as well as OPEC to pump more oil to bring down prices.Tengiz is crucial for Chevron’s financial performance.Mr.

Neff forecast that, assuming oil prices of $60 a barrel, it will generate Chevron $4 billion in 2025 and $5 billion in 2026 in free cash flow.The oil field is operated by a joint venture that is 50 percent owned by Chevron.ExxonMobil, the American energy giant, and Lukoil, a Russian company, are also partners in the venture, known as Tengizchevroil.The venture is also vital to Kazakhstan: It brought in 58 percent of g...