Caspian Pipeline Consortium halts operations at two of three mooring points at its sea terminal

MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) - The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which exports Kazakhstan's and Russia's oil from the Black Sea, announced on Monday that it had halted operations at two of its terminal's three mooring points (SPMs).

CPC pipeline, which ships about 1% of world oil supply and is a key route for Kazakhstan's oil exports, may lose some 50% of the capacity if operating just one SPM, according to traders' estimates.

CPC has been in the spotlight since Russia's war in Ukraine : the consortium closed all but one of its mooring points several times in 2022 amid damages severely cutting exports via the route.

CPC pipeline objects were also attacked this year by Ukraine’s drones, affecting its pumping capacity, according to the consortium and Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft.

The current closures followed an inspection by the Russian transport watchdog, allowing the company to address the identified violations, although CPC did not specify the exact nature of these violations.

The inspection was conducted in response to an oil product spill caused by a tanker crash in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024.

CPC did not line up the period of the loading suspension from two of the three SPMs, but said they were to stay closed until the defects were solved. CPC added that SPM-3 will be the only mooring point to perform loadings from March 31.

Earlier in March, Reuters reported that oil exports via the CPC pipeline were set at 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), or approximately 6.5 million metric tons for April.

CPC exported more than 63 million metric tons (1.4 million bpd) of oil via its pipeline system in 2024.

The main CPC shareholders are Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft TRNF_p.MM (24%), Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas KMGZ.KZ (19%), Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company CVX.N (15%), Lukarco B.V LKOH.MM (12.5%), Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company XOM.N (7.5%).