Kazakhstan says adjusting down 2026 oil output due to field maintenance

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Tamara Vaal

ASTANA, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan said on Thursday that it was adjusting down 2026 oil production plans due to expected maintenance at major oilfields and amid major damage from a Ukrainian drone attack on the Black Sea terminal used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure since August to disrupt the key funding source for Russia's army, but the strike on CPC facilities last month has been condemned not only by the Kremlin, but also by Kazakhstan.

"Obviously, three large-scale maintenances are expected - the plans will be adjusted," Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov told reporters about Kazakhstan's oil production plans for 2026, while also saying that the plans for this year stay intact.

Kazakhstan produces oil at three major fields: Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan, operated by international oil majors.

Reuters reported that the oil output of the world's 12th-largest oil producer has already been down in early December as a result of CPC's diminished exporting capacity.

TALKS WITH UKRAINE OVER STRIKES

The OPEC+ member exported about 68.6 million tons of oil last year with output of around 2 million barrels per day.

Kazakhstan's foreign minister, Yermek Kosherbayev, told journalists on Thursday that Kazakhstan and Ukraine had been in contact over strikes on the CPC, and had reached what he called "an understanding."

The CPC, which accounts for 1% of global crude supply and includes Russian, Kazakh and U.S. shareholders, has had to reduce exports because a key part of its loading infrastructure - one of its three single-point moorings (SPM) - was damaged in the attack.

The CPC's 1,500 km (930 miles) pipeline brings crude from Kazakhstan to the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka terminal at the Russian port of Novorossiysk and accounts for around 80% of Kazakh oil exports. The strike forced Kazakhstan to divert some oil to other routes, including to China.

The energy minister also said that while the maintenance of one of CPC's single-point moorings (SPM-3) would be completed by December 15, shipments via the terminal are now seen declining this year to around 68 million metric tons from previously expected 72 million tons.

He also said the SPM-2, which was hit in the November 29 attack, sustained heavy damage.

"The damage was too severe: a hole measuring 3 meters by 2.5 meters is extremely large," he said.

Currently only SPM-1, one of three, is operational, while SPM-3 has been under maintenance since the middle of November.

Usually, two SMPs are deployed for oil loadings, while the third is used as a backup.

Before the attacks, CPC said it planned to replace SPM-1 and SPM-2.

Options for re-routing oil from landlocked Kazakhstan are limited as Russia's pipeline system is stretched after repeated drone strikes on its refineries and export facilities.