Chevron became the first major Western oil firm to work in Kazakhstan, with the formation of Tengizchevroil (TCO) in 1993.
In 1997, Texaco – which later merged with Chevron – acquired a 20 percent stake in Karachaganak, Kazakhstan's second-largest producing petroleum reserve.
In 2001, Chevron – in conjunction with 10 companies and government partners – opened the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline. Another pipeline linking the Karachaganak Field to the Caspian system at Atyrau began operations in 2003.
In 2003, Chevron opened a $24 million polyethylene pipe plant in Atyrau, the first such facility in Kazakhstan.
In 2008, Chevron was honored by the government of Kazakhstan with two awards, for Long-Term and Stable Investment Cooperation and for Contribution to Kazakhstan's Investment Image.
Health, Environment and Safety
Protecting people and the environment is one of Chevron's core values.
TCO celebrated an important safety milestone in 2008 – achieving more than one year with no employee day-away-from-work injuries. TCO now has reached more than 17 million man-hours without an employee day-away-from-work injury.
As of year-end 2008, our affiliate Karachaganak Petroleum Operating had accumulated 23.2 million man-hours without a lost-time incident.
From the very first days of operation, the staff of the Atyrau Polyethylene Pipe Plan have worked without a day-away-from-work injury. Plant employees continue to achieve excellent results, thanks to continuous safety training and weekly safety audits. By July 2008, the plant had achieved 600,000 man-hours, or more than five years, of incident-free work.
Chevron has invested heavily in protecting the environment. In the past nine years, TCO has spent approximately $1.9 billion protecting the environment. During that time, TCO has reduced flare volumes by 82 percent and air emissions per ton of oil produced by 56 percent.
In 2008, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium marine terminal at Novorossiysk celebrated a major milestone – loading the 1,500th tanker since beginning operations in 2001.
Economy
Chevron contributes to Kazakhstan's economy through employee salaries, purchases of goods and services from national suppliers, tariffs and fees paid to state-owned companies, and royalties paid to the government.
From 2006 to 2008, TCO spent $3.6 billion on Kazakh goods and services. To date, more than 3,400 purchase orders have been issued to more than 320 Kazakhstan vendors, and more than 100 contracts have been awarded to locally owned companies.
The implementation of the local vendor development program has enabled Karachaganak Petroleum Operating to work with a large number of national companies. Since 1998, Karachaganak has signed contracts with 800 Kazakh companies for a total value of $2.5 billion.
Since 1993, the proportion of employees and contractors at TCO who are Kazakhstan citizens has grown from 50 to 82.4 percent. A steadily growing number of Kazakhstanis are assuming management positions. Kazakhstanis today make up 78 percent of managerial, supervisory and specialist positions.
All managers and staff at Chevron's Polyethylene Pipe Plant are Kazakhstan citizens. Our plant has created about 130 local jobs, including 65 employees.
Over 2007 and 2008, Karachaganak spent more than $21 million on local staff development.
Chevron applies the most up-to-date equipment, technology, methods and expertise to its oil and gas business in Kazakhstan. The company applies all of its technologies with the goal of increasing reserves and production, accelerating development, and reducing costs. Chevron's national workers are exposed to the latest developments in oil field operations.
Updated: March 2009