Kazakh oil, condensate output down 6% in early Jan amid protests - sources

MOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's daily oil and gas condensate production fell 6% in early January from December levels, according to two industry sources and Reuters calculations, as mass anti-government protests rocked the country.

Output from Kazakh oil fields fell to 1.766 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first nine days of the month from an average 1.882 million bpd in December, calculations showed and the sources said, citing preliminary daily output data.

The country's oil exports were however unaffected by the output drop, three other traders said.

"There were worries that the situation might affect export positions loading early in January," said a trader with an international firm familiar with Kazakh oil transit shipments via Russian ports.

The protests in Kazakhstan, which saw the deadliest violence https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/stability-turmoil-whats-going-kazakhstan-2022-01-06 in the country's 30 years of independence from Moscow, disrupted transport routes and led to production curbs at oil fields including the giant Tengiz field operated by Chevron .

Chevron said on Sunday that the company had been gradually increasing output at the field, which is located in the north-west region of Kazakhstan close to where the protests started, after a temporary decline.

Daily oil output at Tengiz was down 13% from its December average in the first nine days of the month, the sources said and Reuters calculations showed. As of Jan. 9, it was back to normal, the sources added.

Other fields located further from protests managed to increase output.

Production at the offshore Kashagan oil field operated by North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) was 0.2% higher during the period than in December, while at the Karachaganak oil field in western Kazakhstan it was up by 6%, according to the sources.

Output at smaller independent Kazakh oil producers has fallen by 17% so far in January to 210,918 bpd compared to the previous month.

Kazakhstan exports its oil via three main routes - through Russian ports, via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system, and via pipeline to China. None of those routes was affected, three traders familiar with oil exports from Kazakhstan said.

CPC said last week its operations were not affected by the protests. (Reporting by Alla Afanasyeva; Additional reporting by Gleb Gorodyankin; Writing by Olga Yagova; Editing by Jan Harvey)