ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s energy officials confirmed Tuesday that crude oil shipments through a critical Black Sea pipeline continue operating normally, despite a Ukrainian strike that damaged Russian port facilities used for the exports.
Russian military officials reported Monday that Ukrainian forces had struck the maritime transfer complex at Novorossiysk port during overnight operations, causing damage to a docking facility used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and sparking blazes at four petroleum storage tanks.
“The work of our oil sector is stable and CPC exports continue to be stable,” Deputy Energy Minister Sungat Yesimkhanov stated to media representatives. A ministry advisor had previously indicated Monday that Kazakhstan was keeping watch on developments following the Novorossiysk incident, though no additional details were provided at that time.
The CPC facility, situated southwest of Novorossiysk, processes 80% of Kazakhstan’s crude oil exports. Transportation volumes through the 938-mile Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline increased in the previous year to 70.5 million metric tons – equivalent to 1.53 million barrels daily – up from 63 million tons in 2024.
Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the alleged strike on CPC infrastructure. However, Ukraine’s military separately confirmed Monday that its drone operations had targeted oil loading facilities at Sheskharis, located approximately 9 miles from the CPC terminal.
The CPC consortium, which includes U.S. energy giant Chevron among its stakeholders, has not issued a statement regarding the incident. Chevron’s subsidiary Tengizchevroil, which manages Kazakhstan’s largest oil field at Tengiz and serves as the primary source for CPC exports, reported that field operations have continued without interruption.
Additionally, Tengizchevroil’s director general William Lacobie announced Tuesday that the facility has resumed full production capacity following electrical supply problems experienced earlier this year.
Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov told journalists Tuesday that Ukrainian responsibility for the facility attack was unquestionable and noted similar previous incidents. He directed operational status questions to the CPC’s management team.
“The strikes took place. That much is clear. As we all know, this is not the first time the Kyiv regime has targeted the CPC’s infrastructure,” Peskov stated.
The pipeline consortium was forced to suspend operations temporarily for several days following a late November Ukrainian attack that effectively eliminated one of three offshore loading platforms.
