The Kazakh-Russian Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said in a statement on August 4, which was carried by Tengrinews:
Due to repairs at the Tengiz field of Kazakhstan, the head section of the CPC pipeline (Tengiz pump station) is receiving oil from the field in a reduced mode
Also, due to the stoppage of oil production at the Kashagan field, the volume of oil intake into the CPC pipeline was reduced
These factors led to a significant decrease in the total volume of oil pumped through the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline system
A separate announcement will be made [later] on the resumption of regular volumes of [oil] transport
Meanwhile, Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov said that his country is holding talks with Russia to supply gas to Kazakhstan’s northern and eastern regions:
If we want to start this work today, then the most optimal option is to supply gas from Russia
This is the most economically optimal option and sustainablein terms of gas supply
We are conducting such negotiations with Gazprom at the level of the QazaqGaz [Kazakh Gas] company
As for the volume, the first stage will be nearly 4 billion m3 of gas with the possibility of increasing it to nearly 7 billion m3
Let us round it up to 10 billion m3 because many coal-fired stations located there will, most likely, have to be converted to gas
He also said that Kazakhstan was not considering Turkmenistan as a supplier of gas to its northern and eastern regions since there was no gas pipeline there:
Therefore, it will be easier today to construct a pipeline from Russia [to Kazakhstan], and then connect it to our energy system
However, this will take time
The Tengiz –Novorossiysk pipeline spans 1,511 km.
This route is used to transport 2/3 of Kazakh oil exports, along with crude from Russian fields including those in the Caspian region.
CPC Marine Terminal is equipped with three Single Point Moorings (SPM), allowing tankers to be loaded safely at a significant distance offshore, including in poor weather conditions.
Kazakhstan ‘s oil exports through this route have already been disrupted several times this year for various reasons.
In early July, Rostekhnadzor inspected the CPC’s facilities and identified some documentary violations in its Oil Spill Response Plan.
The regulator then asked the court to suspend the consortium’s work in Russia for 90 days.
On 5 July, a Russian court issued an order suspending the operation of the CPC, which exports most of the Kazakh oil through the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, for a month over alleged environmental violations.
However, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy stated on July 7 that Kazakh oil was being exported via the CPC’s Black Sea facility in Russia as usual.
Kazakhstan doesn’t have a pipeline to export Kazakh gas to the EU, but there is scope to increase Kazakhstan’s oil exports to mitigate the reduced supply of Russian oil due to EU sanctions.
Kazakhstan annually supplies 67 million tons of oil through Russia to Europe.