Kazakhstan project reaches new milestone

In a Kazakhstan oil field the size of Houston, Texas, Tengizchevroil (TCO)—a 50% Chevron-owned affiliate—reached a major milestone. TCO has started operations at its Wellhead Pressure Management Project (WPMP).

The WPMP lowers the flowing pressure at the wellheads and then boosts pressure to the existing processing plants. This enables these facilities to operate at full capacity, providing needed energy to a growing world.

When the Tengiz Field was developed, each well operated under high pressure. Over time, reservoir pressure declined, and the oil and gas no longer flow at the same intensity.

To address this, the entire field is being converted to operate under low pressure. Micah Coston, a project manager with Tengizchevroil, compared the project to uncorking a bottle of champagne. The liquid initially overflows from the top, but eventually loses momentum.

“The WPMP will help keep our existing plants full and maintain reliable performance at these facilities,” said Steve Kovacevich, a TCO production operations manager.

The WPMP is a part of TCO’s Future Growth Project (FGP). With an expected startup in 2025, FGP will enable TCO to expand crude oil production by an incremental 12 million tons per annum.