Kazakhstan’s Oil Production Fully Recovered After Unrest

Daily oil production in OPEC+ producer Kazakhstan rebounded strongly at the end of last week, suggesting that output has now fully recovered from the unrest earlier this month, according to advanced oil data analytics provider OilX.

Daily Kazakh oil production data suggests a sharp rebound in production on January 16, suggesting that production has now fully recovered, OilX said in a Kazakhstan production update on Monday.

At the beginning of last week, OilX said that Kazakhstan’s daily oil production was expected to return to pre-unrest levels by the end of the week, as Chevron had started to gradually restore the curtailed output.

The impact of the disruptions due to the unrest in OPEC+ producer Kazakhstan was estimated at 73,000 barrels per day (bpd), said OilX, which expected production to gradually increase by January 14 to the levels seen before January 6.

Protests erupted in Kazakhstan in the first days of January over higher fuel prices. The government had lifted price controls on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which many Kazakhs use to fuel their LPG-converted vehicles because it’s cheaper than gasoline. The rise in fuel prices also resulted in a surge in consumer goods. The protests continued even after the government resigned to appease the protesters and the president restored the lower price of LPG.

More than 160 people were killed in Kazakhstan in one week of unrest during protests that affected production at the country’s largest oilfield, Tengiz, operated by Chevron.

The U.S. supermajor said a week ago that production at the oilfield was gradually being restored to its usual volumes, following several days of curtailed output amid logistics disruptions due to contractors supporting the protests.

A few days before that, Chevron had said that “TCO production operations continue, however, there has been a temporary adjustment to output due to logistics.”

Tengizchevroil, or TCO, the joint venture pumping oil at Tengiz, produces around 700,000 barrels per day out of Kazakhstan’s total crude oil production of some 1.6 million bpd.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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