-Kazakhstan needs to diversify oil supply routes, Tokayev says

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Thursday that Kazakhstan needed to diversify its oil supply routes, a day after a Russian court ordered the Caspian Pipeine Consortium to suspend activity for 30 days. Speaking at a government meeting, Tokayev ordered a study into building a pipeline across the Caspian Sea, a previously proposed project that would carry Kazakh oil to Europe while bypassing Russia.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Thursday that Kazakhstan needed to diversify its oil supply routes, a day after a Russian court ordered the Caspian Pipeine Consortium to suspend activity for 30 days.

Speaking at a government meeting, Tokayev ordered a study into building a pipeline across the Caspian Sea, a previously proposed project that would carry Kazakh oil to Europe while bypassing Russia. Tokayev said that improving port infrastructure on the Caspian Sea was a "strategic task" for Kazakhstan's government, local media reported.

Heavily fossil fuel-dependent Kazakhstan is reliant on Russian pipelines for oil exports to markets in Europe. On Wednesday, a court in the Rssian city of Novorossiisk ordered the CPC pipeline, which handles around 1% of global oil, to suspend operations, citing issues related to oil spills.