UPDATE 2-Kazakhstan hopes to speed up replacement of damaged mooring at CPC's Black Sea terminal

It said in November, days before the attack, that two pieces of equipment should be built at Drydocks World Dubai this month. WEATHER COMPLICATES MAINTENANCE The CPC's 1,500 km (930 miles) pipeline brings crude from Kazakhstan to the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka terminal at the Russian port of Novorossiysk and accounts for around 80% of Kazakh oil exports. The attack heavily damaged SPM-2, leaving only one, SPM-1, in operation.

The delivery of two new mooring points, to replace damaged and old equipment, to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's Black Sea terminal has been brought forward to January from April, Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said on Monday. Exports by the CPC were curtailed after a Ukrainian drone strike damaged part of its loading infrastructure - one of its three single-point moorings (SPM) - on November 29. The equipment replacement had been long in the CPC's plans.

The strike forced Kazakhstan to divert some oil to other routes, including to China. CPC's exports make up 1% of global crude supply and the pipeline's shareholders include Russian, Kazakh and U.S. entities.

CPC has said it would replace two moorings, SPM-1 and SPM-2, which have been employed since 2021. It said in November, days before the attack, that two pieces of equipment should be built at Drydocks World Dubai this month.

WEATHER COMPLICATES MAINTENANCE The CPC's 1,500 km (930 miles) pipeline brings crude from Kazakhstan to the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka terminal at the Russian port of Novorossiysk and accounts for around 80% of Kazakh oil exports.

The attack heavily damaged SPM-2, leaving only one, SPM-1, in operation. SPM-3 has been under maintenance since the middle of November and Kazakhstan has said it expected it to be operational again by the middle of December. The minister said the works aimed at returning SMP-3 to operation were complicated by unfavourable weather. The equipment is located some 5 km (3 miles) from the shore.

"It is the internal currents in the bay and the strong wind that are complicating this work," he told reporters. The minister also said last week Kazakhstan was adjusting down 2026 oil production plans due to expected maintenance at major oilfields and amid major damage from a Ukrainian drone attack on the Black Sea terminal.

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