Big oil finding money for biggest projects

$36.8-bn project agreed by Chevron, Exxon and partners suggests oil's deep freeze may be thawing

There are signs the deep freeze in oil-industry spending is beginning to thaw.

Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and several partners on Tuesday committed $37 billion to expand an oil project in Kazakhstan known as Tengiz, one of the biggest investments since crude prices collapsed two years ago.

Last week, BP PLC gave the green light to a multibillion-dollar gas export expansion complex. It follows the U.K. oil giant’s announcement in June that it is fast-tracking a major offshore gas discovery in Egypt. Italy’s Eni SpA is moving ahead on an Egypt field as well.

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