Kazakhstan Assures CPC Oil Flow Steady Despite Black Sea Attack Claims

ASTANA/LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) – Kazakhstan moved to reassure global energy markets on Tuesday, asserting that crude oil shipments via the critical Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) route were proceeding normally. The statement came a day after Russia's military accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on the consortium's loading facilities at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Russia's Defence Ministry reported on Monday that Ukrainian forces had targeted the Novorossiysk maritime transhipment complex overnight, damaging a CPC mooring point and setting fire to four reservoirs storing oil products. The CPC terminal, located southwest of the port city, is the primary export conduit for landlocked Kazakhstan, handling approximately 80% of its crude. Volumes shipped via the 1,510-km Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline have been climbing, reaching 70.5 million metric tons (about 1.53 million barrels per day) last year.

"The work of our oil sector is stable and CPC exports continue to be stable," Kazakhstan's Deputy Energy Minister Sungat Yesimkhanov told reporters in Astana. The ministry had said on Monday it was monitoring the situation but provided no specifics.

The incident highlights the persistent vulnerability of energy infrastructure in the Black Sea region since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While direct impacts on global supply appear limited for now, analysts note that repeated attacks could force costly rerouting of Kazakh crude and introduce a new risk premium for oil prices.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov left little room for doubt about Moscow's position. "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 told journalists, referring questions on operational status to the pipeline operator.

CPC, whose shareholders include U.S. oil major Chevron, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ukraine has not officially commented on the alleged attack on CPC facilities, though its military separately claimed drone strikes on oil infrastructure near the Sheskharis area, about 15 km from the CPC terminal.

In a related development, Tengizchevroil—the Chevron-led venture operating Kazakhstan's giant Tengiz field, the main supplier to the CPC—confirmed its exports were uninterrupted. The company's director general, William Lacobie, also announced the field had resumed full production following earlier power disruptions.

The CPC pipeline was forced to suspend operations briefly last November after a Ukrainian attack damaged one of its three floating moorings, underscoring the recurring threat to this vital energy artery.

Market Reaction & Analyst Views

"Kazakhstan's quick reassurance was crucial," said Michael Thorne, a senior energy analyst at Verisk Maplecroft. "The market is jittery about any disruption to non-OPEC supply, but the immediate physical flow seems secure. The bigger question is the long-term security premium for Caspian crude."

Anya Petrova, a former pipeline engineer now with the Caspian Studies Institute, offered a technical perspective: "The reported damage appears peripheral. The system's redundancy, built after last year's attack, likely prevented a major shutdown. But each strike erodes that safety margin."

A more pointed critique came from David Karr, a commodities trader in London: "This is a farce. We're supposed to believe everything is 'stable' while warring parties trade blows over the infrastructure? It's a testament to failed diplomacy that the world's energy chokepoints are now routine targets. The 'stability' is purely rhetorical until the guns fall silent."

Fatima Al-Sayed, a Gulf-based energy strategist, focused on the regional angle: "This reaffirms the strategic importance of alternative routes for Kazakhstan, like the Middle Corridor through the Caucasus. Diversification away from the Black Sea, though costly, is no longer optional but a necessity."

(Reporting by Tamara Vaal and Dmitry Antonov; Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in London; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn, Bernadette Baum and Barbara Lewis)