The development is expected to increase crude oil production at the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan by about 260,000 barrels per day (bpd).

“The Future Growth and Wellhead Pressure Management Project represents an excellent opportunity for the company. The project builds on a record of strong performance at Tengiz and will add value for Chevron and its stockholders,” Chevron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Watson, said.

Chevron Approves Major Tengiz Expansion

According to Chevron’s executive vice president of Upstream, Jay Johnson, FGP-WPMP, which is currently estimated to cost US$36.8 billion (£27.96 billion) is “well-timed to take advantage of lower costs of oil industry goods and services” after having been submitted to “extensive engineering and construction planning reviews”.

“This project builds on the successes of prior expansions at Tengiz and is ready to move forward,” Johnson said.

The costs of the projects have been divided into US$27.1 billion (£20.59 billion) for facilities, US$3.5 billion (£2.65 billion) for wells and US$6.2 billion (£4.7 billion) for contingency and escalation.

Production To Reach 1m boepd

The project is expected to lead to an increase in TCO’s total production to nearly 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. First oil is expected in 2022.

It will maximise the value of the company’s existing facilities by extending the production plateau and maintaining existing infrastructure working at full capacity.

As well as this, the project is also expected to use state-of-the-art sour gas injection technology to enhance oil recovery.

The Tengiz field is operated by TCO and is the world’s deepest operating super-giant oil field, with the top of the reservoir at about 12,000 feet below ground.

TCO is a joint venture (JV) that includes Chevron (50%), ExxonMobil (25%), KazMunayGas (20%) and LukArco (5%).