Kazakhstan has called on Ukraine to stop launching drone attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s (CPC) Black Sea terminal after a major strike halted oil exports and caused serious damage to key loading infrastructure at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

The CPC confirmed that operations were suspended after a naval drone attack on 29 November significantly damaged Single-Point Mooring (SPM) 2, one of the offshore buoys used for tanker loading.

The consortium said further operation of the mooring was not possible, leading to the withdrawal of tankers from the terminal’s waters and the full stoppage of loading activities.

Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry issued a strong protest, describing the incident as the third series of attacks this year on what it called an exclusively civilian installation protected under international legal norms.

The ministry stated that the strike harmed the bilateral relationship between Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and said it expected the Ukrainian authorities to take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Ukraine responded by saying its actions were not directed at Kazakhstan or any other third party. Its foreign ministry said Ukraine was hitting back only at the aggressor and acting in response to what it referred to as full-scale Russian aggression.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted oil refineries and crude terminals inside Russia this year to weaken what it sees as a key source of funding for Russia’s war.

The CPC system transports crude from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan fields to the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka terminal near Novorossiysk. While most of its throughput comes from Kazakhstan, the pipeline also collects crude from Russian producers.

The consortium handles more than 1% of global oil supply and accounts for around 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. The country exported approximately 68.6 million tonnes of crude through the system last year.

The 1,500 km pipeline network is jointly owned by Russia, Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunayGas, and international companies including Chevron, Lukoil and ExxonMobil.

The CPC described the attack as one that targeted the interests of all member countries. It confirmed that operations remained suspended due to the damage to SPM-2.

Russia’s foreign ministry said the attacks amounted to acts of terrorism and asserted that they posed a threat to freedom of navigation in the region. Russian officials also claimed that European countries were engaged in a hybrid conflict with Russia, alleging that Western intelligence services were assisting Ukraine in identifying targets deep inside Russian territory.

Reference: Reuters