The Ukrainian forces have reportedly suspended drone attacks on oil tankers at the port of Novorossiysk following a request by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, the Financial Times wrote today, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials.
The request was prompted by concern that the drone attacks that shut down the Caspian Pipeline Consortium twice over the last two months were additionally destabilizing an already destabilized global oil market. The Ukraine has also targeted tankers docked at the port of Novorossiysk with drones.
CPC operates the pipeline from the Caspian coast in northwest Kazakhstan to the Novorossiysk port, which handles most of Kazakhstan’s crude exports from giant oilfields in the country operated by international oil firms, including U.S. supermajor Chevron. CPC transports crude oil from three major fields in Kazakhstan: Tengiz, Kashagan, and Karachaganak, in which major western companies have stakes, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Eni.
The drone attacks on the pipeline and the port caused a sharp drop in Kazakh oil production, with the daily total falling to just about 1 million barrels at the end of July, down from over 2 million barrels daily in June.
“The administration views the CPC as a vital conduit of Kazakhstan-origin energy for European markets that serves as an alternative to Russian energy supplies,” an unnamed U.S. government official told the Financial Times. Washington also told the Zelensky government to stop attacking non-Russian tankers in the Black Sea, according to the report.
Kazakhstan sends some 80% of its oil exports via the CPC to Novorossiysk. Following the drone attacks, the country said this month it was considering alternative routes for its oil. “Transportation through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan system, shipments across the Caspian Sea through the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as the Baku-Supsa route are being considered,” the Kazakh Ministry of Energy said on Monday.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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