April 10, 2022 [OilPrice.com] – Tankers carrying nine million barrels of crude have departed from Kazakhstan’s CPC terminal after 10 days of no maritime exports, oil exports tracker TankerTrackers.com said on Wednesday.

“A large wave of nine million barrels of crude oil finally departed Kazakhstan’s CPC terminal in Russian territory after 10 days of zero maritime exports,” TankerTrackers said in a tweet.

Two weeks ago, crude oil exports from the CPC terminal off the Russian Black Sea coast were halted completely after sustaining “critical” damage, the head of CPC said. The disruption in crude oil exports was the result of major storm damage and continuing bad weather.

The CPC pipeline transports between 1.2 million and 1.4 million barrels per day of crude oil from Kazakhstan, adding even more pressure to a global market already struggling with tight supplies further constrained by sanctions on Russian crude.

The CPC pipeline carries oil from Kazakstan’s Tengiz oilfield to export infrastructure along the Black Sea coast. Most of the crude oil carried by the CPC pipeline belongs to Russia, Kazakstan, and international oil majors such as Chevron. It remains a vital crude oil artery for Kazakstan, accounting for two-thirds of the country’s crude oil exports.

Kazakhstan, for its part, said last week that it could lose about 320,000 barrels per day of production in April due to maintenance works on the CPC pipeline. The disruption of exports from Kazakhstan, where only one terminal out of three was operational as of last week, further tightened the already tight global oil supply. Repairs on the two terminals of the CPC Marine Terminal will take tentatively at least 3-4 weeks, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium said last week.

Crude oil exported from Kazakhstan moves primarily through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system, which passed through Russia, transporting crude oil produced in Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, the EIA says. Some crude oil produced in Russia is transported in the same pipeline as CPC grade crude oil, but it represents around 10 percent of the crude oil exported through the CPC system.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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