"Chevron Approves $37 Billion Expansion of Kazakh Oil Field"

"LONDON — Bucking the trend of conserving cash at a time of low oil prices, the American oil giant Chevron said on Tuesday that it would go ahead with a $37 billion expansion of a gargantuan oil field on the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan.

Giving the green light to such an expensive project, called Tengiz, looks on the face of it to be an unusual move, but analysts say the field has been lucrative and important for Chevron and its partners, who include Exxon Mobil.

Tengiz, which began producing oil in 1993, has been Chevron’s star, earning the company as much as $50 a barrel when prices were more than $100 a barrel, estimates Iain Reid, a London-based oil analyst at Macquarie, an investment bank. Prices were about $46 a barrel as of midday Tuesday."

Stanley Reed reports for the New York Times July 5, 2016.