Photo: EPP Group
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 29. Kazakhstan is urgently rerouting oil exports to alternative routes due to an emergency in the waters of the port of Novorossiysk, Trend reports, citing the Kazakh Ministry of Energy.
The Ministry reported that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s marine infrastructure facilities in the Novorossiysk port area were attacked by unmanned floating craft, resulting in serious damage to the VPU-2 single-point mooring unit. «The unit has been taken out of service until a full range of repair and restoration work is completed,» the ministry reported.
The Ministry of Energy emphasizes that such actions against purely civilian critical infrastructure facilities are unacceptable. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is an international energy project, and any forceful intervention against its facilities creates direct risks to global energy security and causes significant damage to the economic interests of consortium participants, including the Republic of Kazakhstan.
«In order to minimize negative consequences and maintain production rates at large fields, the Ministry has urgently activated a plan to redirect oil export volumes to alternative routes.
The situation is under the special control of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan,» the report notes.
KazMunayGas and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed a framework agreement on the transit of Kazakh oil in 2022. A test shipment of 7,000 tons of oil from the Kashagan field was carried out through Azerbaijan in March 2023.
KazMunayGas and SOCAR signed an agreement to gradually increase the volume of oil transit through Azerbaijan in March 2024. According to the document, the supply volumes are expected to reach 2.2 million tons per year.
About 1.1 million tons of Kazakh oil were shipped from the port of Aktau toward Azerbaijan in 2023 for further export via the BTC pipeline. In 2024, this volume increased to 1.4 million tons. In 2025, oil exports via BTC are planned to reach 1.7 million tons
