Oil output at Kazakhstan's Tengiz fell by a third in early March, sources say

MOSCOW, March 3 (Reuters) - Production at Kazakhstan's largest oilfield, Tengiz, collapsed by around 30% in early March from February's average levels, two industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday, with exports choked at the CPC terminal at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Tengiz, which accounts for 40% of Kazakhstan's oil output, has been trying to recover from a vast outage following fires in electric power equipment on January 18.

The sources said that output at the Chevron-led CVX.N field fell on March 1 to 415,000 barrels per day from an average of 590,000 bpd in February.

Ukrainian drone attacks on the CPC terminal in Russia's part of the Black Sea, which pumps 80% of Kazakhstan's exports, and stormy weather have disrupted loadings.

Kazakhstan's energy minister said on Friday there were no problems with oil exports via the CPC. The energy ministry did not immediately reply to a request for additional comment on Tuesday.

Tengizchevroil (TCO), the operator of the field, said it was progressively increasing output as conditions allow.

"The company remains committed to maintaining safe and reliable operations. Beyond this, TCO does not comment on specific details of its operations," it said.

The Tengiz output falls short of the previously planned 950,000 bpd, sources have said. According to Reuters calculations, the current output is 44% below the forecast.