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Market Chatter: Accident at Kazakhstan's Tengiz Oilfield Causes Sharp Output Decline

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Kazakhstan's largest oilfield Tengiz, which is led by US energy major Chevron (CVX), saw a sharp decline in output earlier this week following an accident, Reuters reported Friday, citing two industry sources.

The sources did not elaborate on the nature or cause of the accident, and expect output to be gradually restored in about a week. The report cited another source, who said production levels had risen to 82,000 metric tons by Wednesday.

Daily production levels at the oilfield, located near the Caspian Sea west of the country, usually average around 125,000 tons or 995,000 barrels. However, output was down to 5,000-10,000 metric tons on Tuesday, the report said.

The report cited Chevron stating a part of the oilfield had faced minor operational disruption on Thursday and output is being restored.

Kazakhstan accounts for about 2% of the daily global crude oil supply, which is primarily transported through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to the port of Novorossiysk in Russia.

In January, production at the Tengiz field was suspended due to an issue related to power distribution. Output was restored to normalcy only April, the report added.

has reached out to Chevron and Tengiz oil field operator Tengizchevroil for comments.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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