BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 28
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan’s Atyrau region has reported 133 new COVID-19 cases, 71 of which accounted for Tengiz oil and gas field, Trend reports citing the regional administration.
Currently, 330 patients positive for COVID-19 are undergoing treatment at home, 119 patients at the medical institutions, and 516 patients in the medical facilities at the Tengiz field.
In early Dec. 2020, medical specialists were sent to the field to the Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oil and gas field due to the boost of COVID-19 cases there.
Similar drastic increase in COVID-19 cases at the field was observed in May 2020, when Kazakhstan’s Chief Sanitary Doctor Aizhan Yesmagambetova said that operations at TCO-operated Tengiz oil and gas field may be suspended if number of COVID-19 cases among field’s staff continues to increase.
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 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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