• Kazakhstan lost 900,000 tonnes of output due to Tengiz outage
• Three transformers burned down out of 30, minister says
• CPC damage lost Kazakhstan 3.8 million tonnes of export
• CPC and Tengiz problems mean country to be within OPEC+ targets

ASTANA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan said on Wednesday that it was restarting vast Tengiz oil field in stages and it would try to reach full production within in a week after three transformers burned down losing the republic at least 7.2 million barrels of output.

The problems at Tengiz are yet another setback for Kazakhstan, an OPEC+ member and the world's 12th largest producer, whose main export route was limited over recent months after an attack by Ukrainian naval drones.

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Reuters reported on Tuesday that Tengiz, Kazakhstan's biggest oilfield, is likely to have restored less than half of its normal production by February 7 as it slowly recovers from a fire and power outage.

Kazakhstan's energy minister, Yerlan Akkenzhenov, 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," Akkenzhenov told reporters in Astana.

"We have restored some of the work of these transformers and now the field is being launched in stages. The first gas has already appeared, so I think the entire Tengiz will be launched in stages within a week. Maybe even earlier."

Asked directly if he was signalling that the field would reach capacity of around 900,000 barrels per day within a week he said: "Yes. We will try."

Akkenzhenov said that the issues at Tengiz and the attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which accounts for 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports, would push Kazakhstan back within the OPEC+ agreed production boundaries.

"Due to the decrease in production and the incident at CPC and Tengiz, I think that we are going just within the stated volumes," he said.

The shutdown at Tengiz and Korolev, he said, had led to a loss in production of about 900,000 tonnes of oil (7.2 million barrels) - though he said the lost volumes would be made up and that overall Kazakh production would not be affected in annual terms.

The CPC damage lost Kazakhstan 3.8 million tonnes of exports, he said.

He said that media reports that an international consortium developing the Karachaganak field had lost an arbitration case brought by Kazakhstan's government was "very good and very encouraging news".

Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that a consortium led by Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab and Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab, had lost the case, leaving them liable to pay as much as $4 billion in compensation.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/kazakhstan-calls-report-its-win-karachaganak-case-very-positive-news-2026-01-28/