NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Chevron CEO Michael Wirth explored the company’s prospects in the country’s oil and gas sector during a video conference call, the Akorda press service reported.
Tokayev and Wirth focused on Chevron’s activities in Kazakhstan and it’s projects in the country’s hydrocarbon sector amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the global energy market.
Tokayev commended the help from Chevron, which has been the largest private oil producer holding stakes in two of the nation’s biggest oil fields – Tengiz and Karachaganak. The company owns a 50 percent stake in Tengizchevroil, which operates the Tengiz field, and an 18 percent interest in Karachaganak, one of the world’s largest gas and condensate fields.
“Chevron is very active in our country’s energy market as a reliable partner in the implementation of major projects in the oil and gas sector, such as in Tengiz and Karachaganak. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic adversely affected the oil and gas industry, disrupting the balance between supply and demand and lowering oil prices,” said Tokayev, noting the importance of Chevron’s Future Growth Project at Tengiz that will allow expanding its production capacities by 2022.
He also emphasised the importance of ensuring local participation in projects at Tengiz, which includes hiring local specialists and using goods and equipment produced in Kazakhstan.
Discussing the Karachaganak oil field, Tokayev said it is important to ensure the timely implementation of the project and maintain oil production at 10 to 11 million tonnes per year.
Wirth said he appreciated the company’s longstanding partnership with Kazakhstan. He recalled meeting Tokayev in New York and Nur-Sultan in 2019.
“Kazakhstan is a special country for us and a very important area in our company’s activities. Therefore, we plan to continue our cooperation in the energy sector of Kazakhstan, in particular in the Tengiz and Karachaganak fields. We believe that Kazakhstan is a wonderful country with oil and gas resources, and we are pleased to be a partner of your country in the implementation of various projects,” said Wirth.
Tokayev also thanked Wirth for providing medical products, medicines and protection equipment units worth US$20 million, organizing a visit by foreign doctors and epidemiologists to Kazakhstan, and financing the construction of a 200 bed infectious diseases hospital in the town of Kulsary in the Zhylyoi district in the Atyrau Region of western Kazakhstan.
