Russia Cuts CPC Terminal Oil Loadings After "Inspections"

Russia has shut down two out of three of the loading moorings at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near Novorossiysk, on Russia's Black Sea coastline. The CPC pipeline handles 80 percent of Kazakhstan's oil exports, including volumes produced by American oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil, and it accounts for about one percent of all global oil supply.

Last month, Russia's Federal Agency for Transport Supervision inspected two older moorings at the pipeline's offshore loading terminal. The snap inspection resulted in unspecified "violations," according to CPC.

Russian authorities ordered the two buoys taken out of service on April 1, reducing CPC export volume from 1.4 million barrels a day to about 700,000 barrels. There are no restrictions on the pipeline itself, and the third mooring at the terminal continues to operate as normal.

The decision hasn't had an immediate effect on production within Kazakhstan, but as storage begins to fill up, operators at the Caspian's prolific oilfields will likely have to begin shutting in production. The giant Tengiz field, operated by Chevron-led Tengizchevroil, is responsible for 700,000 barrels a day of Kazakh production and could be affected.

Chevron is investing a staggering $48 billion in expanding production at Tengiz. If successful, the program could boost output to nearly one million barrels a day by mid-2025 - if the CPC pipeline comes back online. The prolific output at the field has pushed Kazakhstan's annual production past its OPEC limits, and March set a new all-time record for Kazakh oilfields. If the terminal had not been partially shut down, the CPC pipeline would have exported about 1.7 million barrels per day in April.