MOSCOW, May 23 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan will likely exceed

its original oil output plans for 2024 of 96.2 million tons due

to expansion at the Chevron ( CVX )-led Tengiz field, Energy

Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov was quoted as saying, defying

pressure from OPEC+.

Kazakhstan has cited rising output at Tengiz field as the

reason why it has persistently exceeded quotas set by OPEC+,

which consists of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting

Countries and allies including Kazakhstan and Russia.

Akkenzhenov was quoted by Russian state news agency TASS as

telling a podcast late on Thursday that the expansion at Tengiz

had been brought forward ahead of schedule this year, raising

output there by 25%.

Therefore, he said, "we will probably finish the year

higher" than the planned production level of 96.2 million tons,

which is equivalent to around 2 million barrels per day (bpd).

The Kazakh energy ministry did not immediately reply to a

request for comment. The country's energy ministry has

repeatedly said it is committed to the OPEC+ agreement.

Under the latest OPEC+ agreement, Kazakhstan's OPEC+ quota

for May rose to 1.486 million bpd from 1.473 million bpd in

April.

Western oil majors, including Shell, TotalEnergies

and Eni, as well as ExxonMobil ( XOM ) and

Chevron ( CVX ), are active in oil projects in Kazakhstan.