As the second anniversary of its multibillion dollar joint venture with Kazakhstan rolls around early next month, a spokesman for Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc. said he's "not really discouraged."
"We're involved in Tengiz Chevroil for the long term. Those who talk about us pulling out don't know Chevron," J.R. McCabe told a seminar last week in Vienna.
At the Third International Conference on Distribution of Oil and Gas in the former Soviet Union, McCabe cited "a lot of progress" in improving safety and environmental protection at Tengiz field facilities. The existing oil processing plant has also been upgraded, and a second process unit will be on line this year.
A plant to remove mercaptans from Tengiz crude was also to be commissioned in March. A high level of mercaptans restricted the amount of crude the joint venture could export, said McCabe.
So far, Chevron has invested more than $700 million, and is on schedule with investment plans, said McCabe. He acknowledged that it sometimes seems as if the project is taking "two steps forward and one step back."
But Tengiz is a 40 year project, he said. "It is a marathon, not a dash. In a marathon, strategy calls for a speedup at some times and a slowdown at other times." Expenditures will increase as oil exports increase, he said. The joint venture is exporting about 3 million tons now but expects to increase exports substantially this year.
McCabe is manager, planning, C.I.S. business unit for Chevron Overseas.
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