07/21/2026
Kazakhstan has decided to stop transporting oil to its main export terminal on the Russian Black Sea coast, as military attacks on tankers have put the country’s exports at risk. The terminal is owned by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Although the CPC terminal is located in Russia, exports from this facility are not subject to Western sanctions.
Two Kazakh sources told Bloomberg about the decision to stop oil transportation to the CPC. The publication notes that oil supplies were to be stopped today, July 21.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near the Russian port of Novorossiysk was supposed to stop receiving oil via the pipeline because ” shipping companies are too nervous to send their ships to the facility,” the publication quoted its sources as saying. Bloomberg added that the CPC has not officially commented on the situation, so it is “not clear whether supplies have already been stopped.”
What is it about?
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is a joint Russian-Kazakh oil pipeline from the fields of Western Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea coast, a terminal in Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka near Novorossiysk. The consortium transports oil from three of Kazakhstan’s largest fields: Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak.
The pipe diameter is 1067 mm, the length of the oil pipeline is 1510 km.
In 2025, about 70.5 million tons of oil were transshipped through the CPC system, more than three-quarters of which were carried by foreign companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, KazMunaiGas, Eni, and Shell. In 2026, transshipment volumes were expected to increase to about 72 million tons.
What do they say in Kazakhstan?
Bloomberg sources also reported that Kazakhstan’s oil companies will be forced to reduce production if oil transportation to the CPC terminal is not resumed by the end of this week.
Tengizchevroil, Kazakhstan’s largest oil producer, said it was “closely monitoring the situation” at CPC facilities in Novorossiysk.
The CPC itself noted that the volumes of production and supplies “may be adjusted depending on the operational situation,” but refused to name any numbers and dates.
What preceded
Bloomberg links the Kazakh decision to recent military attacks on several oil tankers near Novorossiysk.
As OBOZ.UA reported, on the night of July 19, 2026, as part of reducing the military-economic potential of the Russian aggressor, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck a number of important military and military-economic targets of the enemy. Among other things, they “thumped” the Russian defenders at sea.
“Two tankers were hit in the Black Sea, which were used to transport Russian oil, petroleum products, and fuel in the interests of the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.