Kazakhstan Sees Main Oil-Export Route Fully Restored This Week

(Bloomberg) -- Kazakhstan expects to resume full operations on its main oil-export route via Russia in the coming days, after storms curtailed shipments.

The Central Asian country was forced to reduce deliveries through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline late last month following damage to moorings at the Black Sea port where it terminates.

The route is expected to be fully up and running again later this week, Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov said, according to his press office. Repairs are “basically completed,” and one of the two moorings affected is due to restart full operations Wednesday, news service Interfax reported, citing the minister.

The consortium said in a statement that the completion of repairs will depend on the weather, which currently is not “favorable” but is expected to improve.

The disruption to the pipeline, the conduit for about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, halted millions of barrels of crude at a time when Russian petroleum deliveries were also in jeopardy following the invasion of Ukraine.

With the U.S. and U.K. banning imports of Russian oil, and many other buyers reluctant to deal with Moscow, it’s vital that CPC crude can flow, Akchulakov said last week. The minister also said the pipeline “needs a special status, allowing it to operate” without being constrained by sanctions on Russia. 

The U.S. ban on Russian oil, announced in early March, does allow companies to continue buying cargoes of Kazakh crude delivered by the CPC pipeline.

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