The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) stopped the operation and export of oil from its offshore terminal near Novorossiysk following a Ukrainian drone attack, its operators said in a statement on Saturday. This news comes in connection with Ukrainian attacks in the Black Sea on two tankers belonging to the so-called “shadow fleet.” These attacks show Ukraine’s desire to strike the Russian oil economy by all available means, even if it means attacking neutral targets.
CPC is owned by Chevron and Exxon and primarily transports Kazakh oil to market. Its main connection to Russia is geographical, as its pipeline crosses Russian territory to a terminal on the Russian coastline. Historically, it has exported only a small amount of Russian oil. However, it has been attacked before: CPC’s central operational offices in Novorossiysk, Russia, were reportedly hit by a Ukrainian missile and drone attack in late September, and one of its pumping stations was attacked in February.
This time, according to the consortium, a “targeted terrorist attack” aimed at the mooring points permanently anchored offshore. These three SPMs handle about one percent of total global oil trade and could be attractive targets for a drone attack, as they are stationary, isolated, far from shore, and strategically significant. The CPC statement suggests the attack caused “significant” damage to one SPM buoy.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Kazakhstan has issued a warning to Kyiv to stop and avoid attacks on “civilian” infrastructure.
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“The CPC pipeline system is an international energy project and any violent impact on its facilities creates direct risks to global energy security and causes significant damage to the economic interests of the consortium participants,” Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement. “We consider this incident as an action detrimental to the bilateral relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine and expect the Ukrainian side to take concrete measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.”
Ukraine has systematically targeted Russian oil export terminals in Novorossiysk and Tuapse over the last two months, leaving the CPC terminal as the last major oil export facility operating on Russia’s Black Sea coast.
On Friday, Ukrainian forces struck and damaged two “shadow fleet” tankers linked to Russia in the southern Black Sea, immobilizing both and forcing their crews to abandon them. No injuries were reported, but Turkish rescue teams are working to prevent the spread of pollution from the fuel on the ships. Either by chance or by design, both ships chosen to be hit are fortunately empty of cargo and in ballast, thus reducing the likelihood of a catastrophic spill of their cargo.
