The oil field is located in an area of low-lying wetlands along the northeast shores of the Caspian Sea.

It covers a 2,500 km2 (970 sq mi) project license area which also includes a smaller Korolev field as well as several exploratory prospects.

The Tengiz oil fields entered a new phase of production with the construction of its Second Generation Project (SGP) and the introduction of sour gas injection (SGI).

Prior to its expansion in 2008, the Tengiz oilfield had 53 wells, tapping a column of crude oil around 1.6km thick.

The integrated Future Growth Project-Wellhead Pressure Management Project (FGP-WPMP) is designed to further increase total daily production from the Tengiz reservoir and maximize the ultimate recovery of resources.

The FGP will use state-of-the-art sour gas injection technology, successfully developed and proven during TCO’s previous expansion in 2008, to increase daily crude oil production from Tengiz by approximately 260,000 barrels per day.

[6] In 2003, Fluor was awarded the rights[5] to develop the Second Generation Plant (SGP) and Sour Gas Injection (SGI) project, which were expected to double production.

[10] Shortly after in 2007, the Republic of Kazakhstan invited Maksat Idenov as First Vice President[11] of Kazmunaigas and Chairman of the Partnership Council of the Tengizchevroil Joint Venture.

[14] In 2012, TengizChevroil began the Future Growth Project (FGP), whose aim is to continue to increase the field's production.

[17] In 2019 during the 3GP project dozens of Arab expat workers were injured during violence sparked by a photograph shared on social media.

[21] On 3 October 2007, the Kazakh environment ministry was reported to be considering imposing fines against TCO for alleged breaches in the way the sulfur is stored.

In January 2003, after contentious negotiations with the government of Kazakhstan, the TCO consortium members initiated a $3 billion expansion project designed to boost production to approximately 450,000 barrels per day (72,000 m3/d) by 2006.

In September 2008, Chevron Corporation announced that the major expansion of Tengiz field was completed and it would boost the production capacity to 540,000 barrels per day (86,000 m3/d).

Oil from the Tengiz field is primarily routed to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) project.

Vollmann also suggests that in the corporation's efforts to displace the natives, many were not compensated fairly, so that upon being forced to move from their existing homes, they were unable to find or afford comparable housing in a new town.

[29] The sedimentary section of the pre-Caspian basin varies between 5 km to 24 km and is dominated by the Permian Kungurian salt, which is overlain by the later (post-salt) deposits of Upper Permian, Mesozoic and Cenozoic all deformed by salt tectonics and earlier (pre-salt) Paleozoic and upper Proterozoic carbonates and terrigenous sediments.