FILE PHOTO: Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev attends a meeting with members of the government in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan May 28, 2019. REUTERS/Mariya Gordeyeva
November 6, 2019
NUR-SULTAN (Reuters) – Kazakhstan believes the new, increased cost of the Tengiz oilfield expansion project is too high and wants Chevron <CVX.N> and ExxonMobil <XOM.N> to review it, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said on Wednesday.
Chevron, which leads the consortium developing one of the Central Asian nation’s biggest oilfields, said last week that cost overruns would balloon project expenses by 25% to $45.2 billion..
“Generally, we told them that in our opinion the sum is too high,” Bozumbayev told reporters when asked about Tengiz costs.
He said Chevron and ExxonMobil have sent experts to Kazakhstan to review the project and it was too early to talk about the final figures.
Russia’s LUKOIL <LKOH.MM> and Kazakh state energy firm KazMunayGaz <KMGZ.KZ> are also partners in the Tengiz joint venture.
(Reporting by Tamara Vaal; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Richard Pullin)
