CPC oil exports climb 22% in August as Black Sea loadings steady
Caspian Pipeline Consortium exports rose 22% month-on-month in August to 6.288 million tons, or 1.6 million bpd, as loadings stabilised after July's tanker attacks.
Oil exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) rose 22% in August from the previous month to 6.288 million metric tons, equivalent to 1.6 million barrels per day, as loadings steadied following a spate of attacks on tankers in the Black Sea.
In July, CPC Blend loadings had dropped to 5.172 million tons, or 1.32 million bpd, after the attacks prompted the terminal to halt operations and led most shipowners to avoid sailings to Russian ports.
Kazakh oil shipped through the CPC system climbed to 5.7 million tons in August from 4.6 million tons a month earlier, a 25% increase on a daily basis. Shipments of Russian crude, by contrast, slipped about 4% to 550,000 tons from 570,000 tons.
The consortium does not comment on its commercial operations.
Total loadings at CPC's Black Sea terminal came to 44.8 million tons in the January-August period, down roughly 8% from 48.9 million tons a year earlier.
September exports are expected to ease to about 1.5 million bpd because of maintenance work at Kazakhstan's Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field.
CPC, which handles mostly Kazakh crude, suspended flows repeatedly in July after drone strikes on tankers near its Black Sea terminal at Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka, close to Novorossiisk.
More than 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports move through the CPC pipeline, with most of the crude originating from the Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak fields.
The consortium's shareholders include Russia with 31%, Kazakhstan with 20.75%, Chevron with 15%, and several private companies.