25 Years of TCO

On 6th April 2018, Kazakhstan marked the 25th anniversary of the Tengizchevroil Project (TCO) with a special ceremony attended by the Head of State, President Nazarbayev. The ceremony highlighted the significant contributions TCO has made to the local economy, increasing from 4 to 28 million tonnes of crude oil per year and becoming one of the biggest companies in Kazakhstan. Here we take a brief look back at TCO: what it is, where it is and what the plans for its future are.

What is TCO?

TCO started in 1993 as a joint venture between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Chevron corporation to explore and develop the super giant Tengiz oilfield – an oilfield with a surface area more than four times that of Paris, France!

Estimated oil in place in the Tengiz field is 25.5 billion barrels, with 1.6 billion barrels in the nearby Korolev field. Total recoverable crude oil in the Tengiz and Korolev fields is estimated to be 7.1 to 10.9 billion barrels. In July 2017, TCO celebrated having produced a billion barrels of crude oil since the project’s inception.

Today, the fields’ yearly output could satisfy the annual oil demand of entire nations. Net daily production in 2019 averaged

Who is involved in TCO?

TCO’s current partners consist of Chevron (50%), ExxonMobil (25%), state company KazMunayGaz (20%) and Lukoil’s subsidiary, LUKARCO (5%).

What are the plans for TCO?

TCO is in the process of simultaneously implementing the Future Growth Project and Wellhead Pressure Management Project (FGP-WPMP) to increase crude oil production and maximise the ultimate recovery of resources in TCO. FGP will do this using state-of-the-art sour gas injection technology; WPMP will extend the production plateau and keep existing plants producing at full capacity, with first oil planned for 2022. Construction of the FGP-WPMP facilities uses large, fabricated equipment blocks from South Korea, Kazakhstan and Italy.

Where is TCO?

TCO is based in the Atyrau region, with the Tengiz and Korolevskoye fields located in the north-eastern reaches of the Caspian Sea on the Kazakh side. The nearest airport is Atyrau (GUW), previously known as Guryev.