Kazakh energy minister says new Tengiz expansion cost too high

NUR-SULTAN (Reuters) – Kazakhstan believes the new, increased cost of the Tengiz oilfield expansion project is too high and wants Chevron (N:) and ExxonMobil (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 (MM:) and Kazakh state energy firm KazMunayGaz are also partners in the Tengiz joint venture.

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