Operator probes incident at Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield, sources say output intact

ALMATY, March 13 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's Tengizchevroil consortium said on Friday it was checking the cause of a March 11 "incident" at the country's largest oilfield of Tengiz that caused no injuries, while sources said the field had not stopped production.

The oilfield at the northeastern tip of the Caspian Sea had been pumping oil at lower levels after fires at power stations on January 18, boosting uncertainty on global markets battling constricted supplies because of the US-Israel war on Iran.

"The company is assessing the root cause in line with established processes," said TCO, operated by the U.S. oil major Chevron CVX.N, as it confirmed the incident at one of its facilities at Tengiz, and added that there were no injuries.

"Beyond this, TCO does not comment on specific details of its operations," it said in a statement.

Oil output at Tengiz rose to 810,000 barrels on March 11, but had averaged 495,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the first 10 days of this month, lagging the capacity target, two industry sources said on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Output recovery at Tengiz is capped by loading constraints such as adverse weather and the threat of drone attacks on the main export route, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system.

Oil production at the Tengiz field had recovered to 120,000 tons per day, or the equivalent of 955,000 bpd, Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov told reporters on Wednesday.