{"id":16526,"date":"2025-12-30T04:12:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T04:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/?p=16526"},"modified":"2025-12-30T04:12:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T04:12:48","slug":"kazakhstans-oil-output-falls-after-ukraine-drone-attack-on-major-terminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/16526\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan\u2019s Oil Output Falls After Ukraine Drone Attack on Major Terminal"},"content":{"rendered":"

RoydadNaft – <\/a><\/span>\u00a0Kazakhstan\u2019s oil production has fallen by roughly 6% this month, primarily due to reduced output at the massive Chevron-led Tengiz oilfield, following a Ukrainian drone strike that damaged a key Russian Black Sea export terminal, according to an industry source on Monday.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in an effort to reduce Moscow\u2019s revenue streams and weaken its military capabilities.<\/p>\n

The drone attack on November 29 targeted the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka oil terminal operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles about 80% of Kazakhstan\u2019s oil exports. The incident disrupted exports not only for Russia but also for Kazakhstan, prompting criticism from the Kazakh government.<\/p>\n

The anonymous source, citing the sensitivity of the matter, reported that Kazakhstan\u2019s combined oil and gas condensate production \u2014 making it the world\u2019s 12th-largest oil producer \u2014 dropped 6% in the first 28 days of December compared to November\u2019s average, reaching 1.93 million barrels per day.<\/p>\n

At the Tengiz field, located in northwestern Kazakhstan along the northeastern Caspian Sea shore, output declined 10% to approximately 720,000 barrels per day during the same period.<\/p>\n

Tengiz Expansion Set Back by Export Issues<\/p>\n

Chevron, which first gained approval to develop the field under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990, launched a $48 billion expansion project in January aimed at boosting production to around 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day \u2014 nearly 1% of global supply. However, the current export bottlenecks have delayed progress toward that target.<\/p>\n

Neither Kazakhstan\u2019s energy ministry nor Tengizchevroil, the field\u2019s operator and the country\u2019s largest oil producer, responded immediately to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Sharp Drop in Kazakhstan\u2019s Oil Exports<\/p>\n

The November drone strike has led to Kazakhstan\u2019s CPC Blend exports hitting their lowest level in 14 months this December.<\/p>\n

The CPC terminal serves as the primary loading point for oil from Kazakh fields run by major Western companies, including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, and Shell.<\/p>\n

According to the source, Kazakhstan\u2019s exports alone through the terminal plunged 19% in December so far compared to November\u2019s average, falling to 1.082 million barrels per day. The pipeline also carries a smaller volume of Russian oil.<\/p>\n

To compensate, Kazakhstan has rerouted some exports to alternatives like the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.<\/p>\n

Additionally, flows through the Atyrau-Samara pipeline into Russia \u2014 part of the route supplying oil to Germany \u2014 rose nearly 25% this month to 255,500 barrels per day.<\/p>\n

Since the November 29 attack, the CPC terminal has been running on just one mooring point (SPM-1), after SPM-2 was taken out of service due to the damage. SPM-3 has been offline since mid-November for planned maintenance, which has been delayed by poor weather. Normally, two mooring points are active, with the third as a standby.<\/p>\n

Updated on