Kazakhstan reduces oil shipments via CPC in Dec 2025 due to bad weather, UAV attacks, redirects volumes to China, via Atyrau-Samara route
ASTANA. Jan 14 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan temporarily reduced oil shipments via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in December 2025 due to UAV attacks and bad weather, the country's Energy Ministry said.
"The Energy Ministry confirms that in December there was a temporary decrease in oil shipments via the CPC marine terminal. This was due to the forced suspension of the operation of the Single Point Mooring (SPM-3) following a UAV attack as well as adverse weather conditions (storms) in the Black Sea water area," the ministry said on Tuesday.
The volumes that were not shipped were sent via alternative routes, including via the Atyrau - Samara direction and to China, it said.
"To minimize the impact of these factors on the industry and prevent a halt in production, the ministry carried out work to redistribute export flows. Part of the oil volumes was redirected to alternative routes. In particular, an increase in transportation via the Atyrau - Samara route and a rise in supplies to China were recorded. For other export directions, transportation was maintained at the level of average planned indicators," it said.
As reported, in mid-November 2025, one of the three Single Point Moorings at the CPC terminal in Novorossiysk, SPM-3, was taken out of operation for a month for repairs. On November 29, SPM-2 was disabled as a result of an attack using unmanned boats. In connection with this, the Kazakh Energy Ministry activated a plan to redirect oil exports via alternative routes. At the same time, the ministry said that oil transportation via the CPC continued without restrictions. On December 29, the CPC suspended oil loading due to a storm.
The CPC connects oil fields in western Kazakhstan and Russian ones on the Caspian shelf with a marine terminal in Novorossiysk. The route's length is 1,500 km. The system is the main export route for Kazakh oil, accounting for more than 80% of the volumes pumped via the pipeline from Kazakhstan. The CPC is capable of transporting approximately 72.5 million tonnes of oil per year from Kazakh territory and up to 83 million tonnes of oil per year through Russia.
The shareholders of the CPC are the Russian Federation (31%, comprised of 24% managed by Transneft and 7% on its balance sheet); Kazakhstan (20.75%, represented by KazMunayGas at 19% and Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures LLC at 1.75%); Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company (15%); Lukoil International GmbH (12.5%); Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company (7.5%); Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures Limited (7.5%); BG Overseas Holding Limited (2%); Eni International N.A. N.V. (2%); and Oryx Caspian Pipeline LLC (1.75%).
