John C. K. Daly
Ukraine has escalated its campaign against Russian energy targets, striking the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s (CPC) Kropotkinskaia oil pumping station (OPS) in February.
The CPC pipeline is Kazakhstan’s primary export route, handling 80 percent of its crude oil, and the strike on the Kropotkinskaia OPS and shutdowns of key moorings reduced export capacity by half
The risks to Kazakhstan’s oil exports have led Astana to intensify its search for alternative oil export routes, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, to reduce reliance on Russian infrastructure.
In response to Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Kyiv has broadened its counterattacks to hit Russian energy facilities, including one involving U.S. and European investments—the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). On February 17, Ukraine launched a seven-drone attack on the CPC’s Kropotkinskaia oil pumping station (OPS) in Iuzhnaia Ozereevka, Krasnodar Krai, near Novorossiisk (Kommersant, February 17; CPC, February 18). According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, its air defense systems repelled a second Ukrainian drone strike intended for the Kropotkinskaia OPS on March 24 (Kuban 24, March 24). This is not the first time the CPC was hit, with a marine terminal in Novorosiisk having been targeted in August 2023 (see EDM, August 18, September 14, 2023).
The 1,511-kilometer (940-mile) CPC pipeline between Tengiz and Novorossiisk transports oil from Kazakhstan’s Caspian offshore Kashagan and onshore Karachaganak field in northwest Kazakhstan and Russian crude to the maritime terminal in Novorossiisk. The system is the main export route for Kazakh oil. In 2024, over 63 million tons of oil were pumped through the Kropotkinskaia OPS, about 90 percent of which came from Kazakhstan (CPC, February 18).
No comments:
Post a Comment