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Operations continue at Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field despite COVID-19 cases

Oil&Gas Materials 19 June 2020 16:24 (UTC +04:00)
Operations continue at Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field despite COVID-19 cases

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 19

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Tengizchevroil (TCO) production operations continue uninterrupted at Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oil and gas field notwithstanding confirmed COVID-19 among company’s staff, Trend reports with reference to TCO.

On Jun. 15, 2020 TCO and its contractor organizations have resumed crew change operations. The company said that it expects that crew change will be executed in a controlled and phased manner and will last until mid-July.

“The duration of the shifts for the crews coming in Tengiz will be extended in full compliance with Kazakhstan’s legislation and with a consent from employees. All personnel going to the Tengiz field during crew change operations will have to be isolated, PCR-tested and certified as a ‘fit-for-duty’ prior to proceeding to their job duties. These are mandatory requirements for everyone arriving to the Tengiz area,” the company said.

Thus, personnel categorized as a high-risk are still not permitted to the field.

“High-risk category individuals are those who have underlying conditions and are under risk to develop complications once exposed to COVID-19. We want to highlight that negative PCR results and “fit-for-duty” status upon arrival to Tengiz are the only mandatory criteria for the workforce to proceed with their rotation. Personnel traveling back from Tengiz will need to obtain negative PCR results prior boarding transportation,” the company said.

As of now, the company said TCO’s production operations continue uninterrupted and we are focused on taking actions to safely execute the Future Growth Project – Wellhead Pressure Management Project key critical path activities.

The latest data said that 1,267 coronavirus cases of total cases countrywide account for Tengiz field’s 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 16,351 cases. This includes 10,195 people who recovered from the coronavirus, and 105 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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Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh

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