Kazakhstan’s energy ministry said on Thursday a special commission is investigating the cause of a January 18 incident that forced the shutdown of the giant Tengiz oil field in western Kazakhstan. The field, one of the world’s largest, halted operations after a fire broke out at a power unit, though the cause of the blaze remains unclear.
The shutdown pushed global oil prices higher on Wednesday, with Reuters reporting that production could remain offline for another 7 to 10 days. The ministry said output was suspended to protect personnel and equipment while technical experts conduct a detailed analysis of the incident.
Tengizchevroil (TCO), which operates the field, declared force majeure on CPC Blend supplies following the fire and a subsequent power outage. Tengiz has a capacity of about 0.9 million barrels per day and produced roughly 606,000 bpd in 2024.
TCO is majority-owned by Chevron with a 50% stake, alongside ExxonMobil (25%), Kazakhstan’s state firm KazMunayGas (20%), and Russia’s Lukoil (5%). The outage adds pressure to Kazakhstan’s oil sector, already constrained by export bottlenecks and recent attacks on energy infrastructure.