BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 20
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Operations at Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oil and gas field may be suspended if number COVID-19 cases among field’s staff go on increasing, Kazakhstan’s Chief Sanitary Doctor Aizhan Yesmagambetova said, Trend reports.
Yesmagambetova made the statement during a press briefing held on May 20, 2020.
She said that taking into consideration the increase in coronavirus cases at the Tengiz field, a government commission was deployed to the Atyrau region.
“As a result of the verification, an action plan will be designed with the purpose to mitigate the situation at the Tengiz field. Currently, monitoring the implementation of this schedule is necessary. Otherwise, this may lead to an increase in the number of patients, isolation and the natural or forced halt of the operations,” she said.
She added that 935 coronavirus cases of total 6,969 cases countrywide account for Tengizchevroil staff.
The first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020.
The total number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Kazakhstan since the virus was first confirmed in the country amounted to 6,969 cases. This includes 3,649 people who recovered from the coronavirus, and 35 patients who passed away.
The Tengiz oil field was discovered in 1979 and is one of the biggest and deepest oil fields in the world. The total explored reserves of Tengiz reach 3.2 billion tons, while recoverable reserves range from 890 million tons to 1.37 billion tons.
In 1993, Tengizchevroil LLP, which is the project operator, was established on the basis of an agreement between Kazakhstan and Chevron. Presently, Tengizchevroil includes Chevron (50 percent), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc. (25 percent), KazMunayGas (20 percent) and LukArco (5 percent).
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