TCO produced 26.6 million tonnes in nine months, 3.9 million less than a year ago

Atyrau, 3 November. Tengizchevroil (TCO) produced 26.6 million tonnes of crude oil in January–September 2026, about 212.3 million barrels, the company said.

In the same period of 2025 output was 243.2 million barrels, or about 30.5 million tonnes; a fall of 12.7%.

Direct payments to the Republic of Kazakhstan over nine months came to about $10.2 billion, and the company spent about $1.3 billion on local goods and services, the TCO website states. The company includes in that sum taxes and royalties, payments to state enterprises, dividends to the Kazakh partner, purchases from domestic suppliers and salaries of Kazakh employees. Over nine months TCO sold more than 4.2 billion cubic metres of commercial gas, more than 979,000 tonnes of liquefied gas and more than 1.79 million tonnes of sulphur.

The pace changed during the year. In the first half TCO produced 16.6 million tonnes, 14.7% less than a year earlier. In the third quarter output was 10 million tonnes, about 109,000 tonnes a day, 19% above the first-half daily average. Early in the year transformers at the gas-turbine power plant caught fire at Tengiz, and the company suspended production. The Ministry of Energy said in July that TCO plans to produce up to 40 million tonnes by the end of the year; to reach that, it must produce 13.4 million tonnes in the fourth quarter, about 146,000 tonnes a day, a third more than in the third.

There are no 2026 financial results in the statement, but TCO’s summary consolidated financial statements for 2025 have been published: the auditor’s report was signed by PricewaterhouseCoopers on 11 February 2026, with an unmodified opinion on the full audited statements. Revenue for 2025 was $21.99 billion against $19.0 billion a year earlier, and net profit $2.15 billion against $2.12 billion in 2024 and $5.31 billion in 2023. Revenue grew by 16% and profit by 1.5%; at the same time depreciation and amortisation rose from $6.94 billion to $9.67 billion, and the notes say that transfers from construction in progress of $4.0 billion relate to the Future Growth Project. Royalties were $4.86 billion (base $2.20 billion and additional $2.67 billion), and income tax at 30% was $0.92 billion.

Capital expenditure fell during the year to $1.23 billion from $2.41 billion in 2024 and $4.30 billion in 2023. Participants were allocated $7.8 billion of profit, of which $7.66 billion was paid in cash in 2025. Debt fell from $9.0 billion to $7.0 billion after $2.0 billion was repaid; $4.0 billion of the remainder is due within a year, including series A bonds and loans in two payments on 16 February and 15 August 2026. Cash at year-end was $1.13 billion against $2.18 billion.

What it means: Output in 2026 still lags last year by 3.9 million tonnes but picked up pace by autumn; the 40-million-tonne target requires a sprint in the last quarter. The 2025 accounts show where the revenue goes: royalties, taxes, debt service and distribution of profit among the participants.

Who benefits: According to the accounts, the state received royalties of $4.86 billion and profit tax of $0.92 billion in 2025. The participants’ profit is distributed by shares: KazMunayGas holds 20%, Chevron 50%, ExxonMobil Kazakhstan 25% and Lukoil 5%. With $7.8 billion distributed by shares, KazMunayGas accounts for $1.56 billion and Lukoil for $0.39 billion.

Background: TCO was founded on 6 April 1993. The company puts recoverable reserves of the Tengiz and Korolevskoye fields at 1.4 billion tonnes (11.5 billion barrels); the current contract for developing Tengiz, signed in April 1993, expires on 2 April 2033.

We have also reported on Kazakhstan’s oil output in October rising 8% to 8.56 million tonnes.