CPC Repairs Delayed as Kazakhstan Could Face Oil Export Losses

Repair work at the damaged Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal is now expected to continue until at least December 15, Bloomberg reports, pushing the timeline back by several days.

Earlier estimates suggested the work would be completed by December 13. At present, only one of the terminal’s three single-point moorings is operating: one was heavily damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike, and another is offline for scheduled maintenance.

Because the CPC requires at least two functioning berths to operate at full capacity, storage sites are beginning to fill up. Bloomberg sources caution that Kazakhstan may be forced to scale back production if storage volumes hit their limit.

Both Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and the consortium itself declined to comment.

Shipments of crude from Kazakhstan’s major fields — exported via the CPC system, which serves operators such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell — fell by about 155,000 barrels per day in November after the series of attacks.

Kazakhstan previously issued a diplomatic protest to Ukraine, warning that strikes on CPC infrastructure would damage bilateral relations. Analysts have stressed that more than 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports move through the CPC, making even temporary outages a serious threat to the national economy.

Economists also note that the tenge’s exchange rate is closely tied to stable oil flows.

They warn that another hit to the CPC could trigger turbulence in the currency market. The tenge’s recent strengthening, they argue, was driven by short-term speculation and remains vulnerable to any external pressure— especially disruptions to key export infrastructure.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov