Kazakhstan Raises Oil Shipments via BTC Pipeline

Kazakhstan has increased westward oil shipments by up to 30 per cent through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline since December.

The move comes after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) facilities near Novorossiysk, Russia, disrupting tanker shipments along Kazakhstan’s main export route, The Caspian Post reports via foreign media.

Kazakh officials have urged Ukraine to halt attacks on the CPC, while Kyiv maintains that the Novorossiysk port and pipeline are legitimate military targets under its “right of self-defense.”

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is awaiting a US Treasury decision on whether Russian oil exports to China via Kazakh territory violate sanctions. Rosneft ships around 10 million tons of oil annually to China, earning Kazakhstan roughly $150 million in transit fees. Authorities say they are ready to suspend shipments if the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rules them in violation.

China is reportedly seeking to increase imports by 2.5 million tons per year through the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline, which would require upgrades to transit facilities at the Russia-Kazakhstan border.