Kazakhstan Set to Cut Oil Exports Via Caspian Pipeline

Kazakhstan will reduce the flow oil crude via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium by as much as 70% this month, a senior government official told local media.

“To date, there have been no reductions in oil transportation through the CPC infrastructure from Kazakhstan. The lion’s share of Kazakhstan’s oil exports goes through this pipeline. However, in March, oil supplies through CPC will be reduced by 70 percent from our volume,” Deputy Energy Minister Alibek Zhamauov said, as quoted by news outlet Trend.

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The official also said that Kazakhstan was planning to produce 1.5 million barrels daily this month, in line with its OPEC+ quota. That would be quite a reduction from the February average, which stood at a record high of 2.12 million barrels daily, up by 13% from January. The figure includes gas condensate output. Excluding that, Kazakhstan’s crude output stood at 1.83 million barrels daily.

Last month, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium became the target of a Ukrainian attack that led to ab abrupt decline in the flow of Kazakh oil for a while. The Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline, which stretches over 1,511 km, or 939 miles, transports over two-thirds of all Kazakh export oil, and crude from Russian oil fields.

In terms of production and quotas, Kazakhstan has turned into one of the biggest laggards in OPEC+, consistently overproducing, along with Iraq and Russia. Last year, all three submitted compensation plans to make up for the excess production over the period until September 2025. It seems Kazakhstan has been slow to implement the compensation if the February production numbers are any indication. The Central Asian country has some 620,000 barrels daily in excess production. For Russia, the number is 480,000 barrels daily, and for Iraq, the top quota laggard, the output to be slashed is close to 1.2 million barrels daily.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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