CPC terminal loading problems slow Tengiz oilfield output recovery

Kazakhstan's vast Tengiz oil field is restoring production more slowly than planned due to loading disruption at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) marine terminal near Novorossiysk, Russia, caused by bad weather and drone alerts, two industry sources told Reuters.

Kazakhstan has faced a perfect storm of disruption to its oil sector due to Ukrainian drone attacks on the CPC, which pumps 80 per cent of its exports, and power outage which halted production at Tengiz, which accounts for 40 per cent of Kazakhstan's output.

After the transformer fires at Tengiz, Kazakhstan has been restoring production at the world’s deepest producing supergiant oil field but is coming up against constraints on the CPC which pumps oil to the Black Sea.

Two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation said oil production at Tengiz increased to 790,000 barrels per day (bpd) on February 24, up from 660,000 bpd the previous day.

But that was still short of the previously planned level of 950,000 bpd, the sources said. According to Reuters calculations, the current output level at Tengiz is 17 per cent below the forecast.

TCO's press service did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. CPC's press service declined to comment.