Key facts
- Kazakhstan has suspended oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast.
- The halt follows Ukrainian drone attacks on tankers and the terminal.
- Tanker companies are reluctant to call at the CPC terminal due to security concerns.
- The CPC pipeline is a crucial export route for Kazakh oil, handling over 80% of its exports.
- Russia's Sheskharis terminal, a major Black Sea oil export hub, has also gone offline.
- The combined disruption impacts roughly 2% of global oil supply.
Kazakhstan has confirmed a halt to crude oil transfers at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast, following a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on tankers and the facility. The suspension is attributed to tanker companies' reluctance to call at the terminal due to escalating security risks.
The CPC pipeline, stretching 1,511 kilometers, carries more than two-thirds of Kazakhstan’s crude exports and oil from Russian fields to the Black Sea export terminal near Novorossiysk. Shareholders include major international energy companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell. The system accounts for roughly 1% of global oil supply, primarily from Kazakhstan’s giant Tengiz, Kashagan, and Karachaganak fields, with additional volumes from Russian producers.
A drone struck the tanker NELSA on Monday while it was loading crude oil at Single Point Mooring 1 (SPM-1), igniting a fire that was quickly extinguished. No oil spill was reported, and the tanker remained afloat. This incident followed a similar drone attack on Sunday that also forced a temporary suspension of crude loadings. Neither CPC nor Kazakhstan identified the perpetrator of Monday's attack.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Energy condemned both incidents, labeling them as terrorist attacks on civilian maritime infrastructure and Kazakhstan’s economic interests. Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to destabilize global oil markets through these attacks. Despite previous disruptions to CPC operations since the start of the war, the consortium has generally restored operations within days, though no timetable for resuming loadings has been announced following Monday's strike.
Adding to the supply concerns, Russia's largest Black Sea oil export terminal, Sheskharis, has also effectively gone offline. This terminal exported an average of about 650,000 barrels per day during the first half of the year. Together, the CPC and Sheskharis terminals form one of the most important oil export hubs on the Black Sea. Ukraine has expanded drone attacks beyond refineries to commercial shipping and export infrastructure in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, prompting Russia to warn vessels of unsafe navigation.