Tengiz field to restart production within week in-Kazakhstan

Oil production at Kazakhstan's Tengiz field, which was suspended on January 18 due to a transformer fire, will be restored within a week, Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said.

"The stage of starting up the Tengiz field has begun. We expect that Tengiz will fully start up within a week," Akkenzhenov said.

The minister said the adjacent Korolev filed had been launched two days ago but that relaunching Tengiz was a complex affair after three out of 30 transformers burned down.

"Three of them have burned down - this is critical equipment. We have restored some of the work of these transformers and now the field is being launched in stages," Akkenzhenov said.

Earlier reports said a transformer caught fire at the Tengiz field on January 18. The fire was quickly extinguished and no injuries were reported, while media said operations initially continued as normal. On January 19, Tengizchevroil announced it had temporarily halted production at the Tengiz and Korolev fields due to power supply problems.

The Kazakh Energy Ministry established a special commission to investigate the suspension of oil production at the Tengiz field following power supply failure.