[OilPrice] Kazakhstan Suspends Major Oil Exports as Black Sea Risks Escalate
Following a drone attack on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal along the Black Sea Coast, Kazakhstan has newly confirmed a halt to crude transfers there.
"Kazakhstan is set to stop piping crude to a port on Russia’s Black Sea coast after a spate of attacks on tankers that's jeopardizing the landlocked Asian country’s ability to produce oil," Bloomberg reports Tuesday morning.
"The CPC Terminal at the Russian port of Novorossiysk will stop accepting piped supplies because tanker companies are too nervous to send their ships to the facility, two people with knowledge of the matter said," the report continues, describing a developing situation that parallels the ongoing situation of nervous tanker crews who have remained stopped in the Strait of Hormuz, also for fear of being attacked. "The halt is due to begin later on Tuesday," Bloomberg adds.
Additionally, CPC clarified in a statement that "Oil loading operations were suspended. No oil spill occurred and no ignition of oil in the cargo tanks was allowed." The pipeline terminates near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, and while mainly carrying Kazakh supply, it also transports some Russian crude. The Kremlin charged that these recent attacks are part of Ukraine's "ambition to further destabilize the situation on global oil markets".
At least one of the tankers recently hit (described below) erupted in an onboard fire after it was struck on the starboard side. Reuters has detailed in the aftermath of a rescue effort that "The international crew of 22 was evacuated using CPC tugboats, with the exception of the captain and chief officer. The tanker remained afloat." Flows had initially resumed after a wave of Sunday attacks on the CPC terminal, but were halted again after a strike on tanker Nelsa.
Analysts have been pointing out that as a result of Ukraine's broader drone war on Russian energy sites, Russia's oil refining output has fallen to its lowest level in more than two decades.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of orchestrating a plan to further destabilize global oil markets by carrying out drone attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). |