Kazakhstan urges Ukraine to halt pipeline attacks

Kazakhstan has called on Ukraine to stop attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal on the Black Sea, after a major drone strike halted exports and caused significant damage to loading infrastructure. The terminal handles more than 1% of global oil supplies.

The CPC, which includes Russian, Kazakh and US shareholders, said operations were suspended after a mooring at its Novorossiysk terminal was heavily damaged in a Ukrainian naval drone attack.

Earlier this year, Ukraine launched a series of attacks on Russian oil refineries and crude oil terminals, aiming to undermine a key source of revenue for Russia’s war economy.

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry described the drone strikes as the third wave of attacks on what it called “an exclusively civilian facility protected under international law.” The ministry said the assaults represented “a deliberate attack on the critical infrastructure of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium” and warned they risked harming bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

Ukraine, however, insisted that its actions were not directed at Kazakhstan or third parties, but were “a response to full-scale Russian aggression.” “Ukraine strikes back at the aggressor,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

CPC accounts for roughly 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports to OPEC+ markets, which totalled 68.6 million tonnes last year. The consortium transports crude from the Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan fields to the Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka terminal in Novorossiysk, also receiving supplies from Russian producers.

Following the attack, CPC confirmed that Single-Point Mooring 2 (SPM-2) – a floating platform connecting tankers for oil loading – was “severely damaged” and could no longer operate. All loading activities were suspended, and tankers were withdrawn from the terminal area.

The consortium stated: “The attack on CPC is an attack on the interests of its member countries.”

Russia, meanwhile, condemned Ukraine’s strikes on infrastructure deep inside its territory as “acts of terrorism.” Moscow has accused Western powers of engaging in a hybrid war against Russia, providing intelligence to Kyiv to target key infrastructure. The Russian Foreign Ministry also warned that such attacks threaten freedom of navigation in the region.

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