Tengizchevroil has been producing oil in Kazakhstan since 1993. TCO’s direct financial payments to Kazakhstan in Q3 2021 amounted to more than $158 billion. Over the entire period of its operation the company has allocated more than $2.2 billion to social projects and infrastructure. At the same time 94 social projects were implemented for $11.1 million.

The company also pays great attention to the development of Kazakh content in Kazakhstan. In particular, the operator actively engages Kazakhstani companies to work on various projects. These are not only oil and gas contractors but also oilfield service providers.

KAZAKHSTAN COMPANIES RECEIVE CONTRACTS FROM TCO

How difficult is it to get a contract with TCO? Perhaps this question is often asked by local businesses. In fact, it is not as difficult as some entrepreneurs imagine.

A striking example of this is the history of local companies from Aktobe. Director of FIBC KAZAKHSTAN LLP Botagoz Taibukenova spoke about how her company received a contract with TCO. The family business started with just a few sewing machines according to her.

“Then our company was only three years old and we received a contract with TCO, although it seemed impossible. For Tengizchevroil we produce wagon liners or envelopes for the transportation and loading of sulfur. Before they signed a contract with us, we went through a serious test. A large commission came to the company to inspect the equipment, working conditions, talked with staff – we have 50 of them. We were ready for the high requirements of the customer, although we were a young company, – says Botagoz Taybukenova.

After verification, the very first order from “FIBC KAZAKHSTAN” had car liners in the amount of 150 units. And just two years later, the volume of supplies increased almost 10 times.

This year the company plans to expand and procure new equipment. In addition, if earlier “FIBC KAZAKHSTAN” was in a rented premises, recently it built a warehouse with an area of 3 thousand square meters.
Another example of TCO’s support for Kazakhstani business is the case with YUZHPROMSNAB LLP. The company has been engaged in construction and installation work, installation of electrical equipment, as well as the production of metal products for 19 years.

Cooperation with Tengizchevroil began in 2014 with registration on the TCO platform as a potential supplier.
“It was necessary to go through a survey, fill out all the questions, attach the necessary documents, registration data, certificates and licenses, letters of recommendation from other companies. Our company was very lucky – at the moment when we decided to cooperate with TCO, the Future Growth Project had just started, ” says the founder of the company Vladimir Grinberg.

LLP “YUZHPROMSNAB” has its own laboratory where the quality of products is constantly monitored as well as a reconstructed railway dead end.

“TCO has very high requirements for the quality of goods and services. Even at the stage of selecting a supplier everything is very carefully monitored here. In addition, they will additionally hold a conversation, meet with management, ask to attach CVs of leading employees, assess the level of company management, carefully check the organization of labor protection and internal documents. For example, we have gravel production, everything has been checked here – from production equipment, its environmental friendliness and reliability and with social points – these are the living and working conditions of workers in this production. Our company, for example, has built a dormitory for 150 people in the village of Badamshinsky where the site for the production of inert materials is located” the founder notes.

HOW TCO INVESTS IN THE LOCAL MARKET BY REGION

The international analytical agency IHS Markit recently found out exactly which regions are benefiting from the oil and gas industry. Despite the fact that TCO’s activities are mainly concentrated in the Atyrau region the company’s average annual costs in the local market are distributed across the remaining regions of Kazakhstan.

In the Karaganda region, TCO buys from local enterprises general construction works and building materials, consulting services, fiber-optic cables.

“In 2011 we carried out the scope of work to dismantle the old GTS (gas transmission system). Since then, cooperation with TCO has only expanded. At the same time we must meet the highest standards that can only be presented at the international level not only in terms of quality, but also labor organization and safety. When we worked on the project measuring the Corrected Wear Scar Diameter (PWD) from TCO our actions were monitored with the drone. We had no right to go outside the corridor that we were given. These were TCO requirements from the point of view of the ecology of our region. To comply with them we have attracted ecologists and ornithologists. Bird watchers were needed to determine if there is a bird nesting line on the way to the construction of our line. There are even special requirements for clothing there” says Aleksey Uskalenko, head of Energy System Services LLP.

Another Karaganda company that cooperates with TCO is ELTO Power Systems. It is one of the largest domestic manufacturers of electrical products in the energy market of Kazakhstan.
“Since 2017, we have been working with TCO. We have gained good experience with them, which allows us to work with other similar companies. This is a step forward, we have pulled ourselves up to the requirements set by TCO” says Director Alexander Arionov.

Maxim Yermolayev, Director of the Uralsk Nitrogen Plant also shares his pleasant impressions of cooperation with TCO.
The company is engaged in the supply of liquid nitrogen and oxygen, cleaning and drying of technological systems, tanks and pipelines with inert gas, chemical and laser methods.

“Our first attempt to obtain a contract from Tengizchevroil LLP ended unsuccessfully, we did not win the tender. At that time, we were a service company with little experience. And at the very end of 2011 TCO approached to us for an urgent service. And it was just New Year’s holidays, there were difficulties with the signing of the contract and with guarantees for payment of our work. But we took a chance and sent a team to them. And there at their facility there was such a volume of work that instead of the agreed two or three days they worked for 10 days, and more than one team. We asked for feedback from TCO and they gave us a positive rating. We were greatly inspired by that experience. And then we won our first tender with Tengizchevroil. It was a three-year with a two-year renewal option. An audit team from Tengizchevroil came to us as part of the CHESM process. We checked the entire production cycle, safety, personnel, finances. We have successfully passed the audit and registered in the TCO supplier system. So in 2012 we became a direct supplier to TCO” says Maxim Yermolayev.

According to IHS Markit, Aktobe region local companies benefited for $41 million in 2020, 3,131 people received jobs. West Kazakhstan region benefited for $18 million, 1,271 people were given jobs.

In the Atyrau region, local companies rendered services to the operator in the amount of $1,390 million, 81,419 people were provided with jobs.

In Mangystau, $216 million, 12 632 people. Karaganda region $4 million, 657 people. Zhambyl region $5 million, 623 people. Almaty and Almaty region – $629 million, 33,548 people. Nur-Sultan and Akmola region $137 million, 6,730 people.