Kazakh Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov has said that Kazakhstan should develop the Baku-Supsa route as an alternative oil export corridor following attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).

Speaking about the need to diversify Kazakhstan’s oil transport routes, Akkenzhenov said the country had lost around 3.5 million tonnes of oil as a result of the attacks on the CPC, according to zakon.kz.

“There has been some groundwork for negotiations, although no direct talks have taken place yet. But just imagine: we lost 3.5 million tonnes because of the attacks on the CPC, even though we could have redirected these volumes through the port of Aktau and the Baku-Supsa pipeline,” Akkenzhenov said.

He noted that the Baku-Supsa pipeline has an annual capacity of around 5 million tonnes.

“If those volumes had been redirected through this route, Kazakhstan’s financial losses would have been significantly lower,” the minister added.

Akkenzhenov said that the Baku-Supsa route is essential for Kazakhstan as one of the country’s alternative oil export options.

He argued that critics of the pipeline may underestimate the scale of Kazakhstan’s losses linked to the attacks on the CPC.

The minister said oil from temporarily halted or reduced-capacity fields could have been redirected through the alternative corridor.

“Therefore, I fully support this route,” Akkenzhenov said.