Full shutdown at Tengiz oilfield costs project participants $40 mln per day - Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry

ASTANA. Jan 28 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's authorities have not yet calculated the losses resulting from the shutdown at the Tengiz oilfield, but the project's complete downtime is costing all participants $40 million per day, Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said.

"We have not yet overcome all the difficulties. We still need to bring Tengiz fully back online in order to assess the overall situation, and then we will be able to assess it. It takes time to calculate the exact cost, though I would say that the complete shutdown of Tengiz costs all partners approximately $40 million per day," Akkenzhenov said on Wednesday at a briefing.

As previously reported, a transformer fire occurred at the Tengiz oilfield on January 18. The fire was quickly extinguished, and there were no injuries. Media reports indicated that Tengizchevroil's operations were continuing as usual at the time.

Meanwhile, Tengizchevroil on January 19 announced that it had temporarily suspended oil production at the Tengiz and Korolev oilfields owing to problems with the power distribution systems.

Akkenzhenov previously told reporters that Kazakhstan had lost nearly 1 million tonnes of oil owing to suspending production at the Tengiz and Korolev oilfields.

Tengiz has oil reserves totaling 3.1 billion tonnes. Tengizchevroil's shareholders include Chevron (50%), ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc. (25%), Kazakhstan through KazMunayGas (20%), and Lukoil (5%).