MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - Oil output at Kazakhstan's

largest Tengiz field rose to 810,000 barrels on March 11, but

averaged 495,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the first 10 days of

this month on average, lagging the capacity target, two industry

sources said.

According to the sources, average production at Tengiz on

March 1-10 was 16% lower than in February, when output stood at

around 590,000 bpd.

Tengiz's operator, U.S. Chevron-led Tengizchevroil (TCO), is

restoring output after an emergency shutdown on January 18

caused by a fire.

However, output recovery at Tengiz is capped by loading

constraints via the main export route - the Caspian Pipeline

Consortium (CPC) system - due to adverse weather conditions and

the threat of drone attacks.

TCO is looking to use alternative export routes to recover

output.

Traders said the company plans to export 120,000 metric tons

of crude in March from Tengiz to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)

pipeline. TCO is also seeking an opportunity to ship a

100,000-tonne KEBCO cargo via Russia's Ust-Luga port this month,

traders said.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov told

reporters on Wednesday that oil production at the Tengiz field

had recovered to 120,000 tons per day, equivalent to 955,000

bpd. He did not specify the exact date.

Daily deliveries of Tengiz crude into the CPC pipeline

system reached 932,000 bpd on March 10, according to the sources

data, compared with 700,000 bpd at the end of February.

Crude deliveries by the producing company may differ from

production volumes, as they include inventories held at its

facilities.

TCO does not comment on details of its production and export

activities.

Kazakhstan's state oil pipeline operator KazTransOil did not

immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last year, TCO increased crude output following the

completion of the Future Growth Project (FGP) to 39.01 million

tons, compared with 27.8 million tons in 2024.

TCO's main shareholder is Chevron ( CVX ) (50%), with stakes also

held by Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) (25%), KazMunayGas (20%)

and Russia's Lukoil (5%).