Drone Strikes Knock Russia's Black Sea Oil Terminal Offline

Russia's largest Black Sea oil export terminal, Sheskharis at Novorossiysk, has effectively gone offline after a drone attack. According to Bloomberg, no crude tankers have loaded since July 21, resulting in the loss of approximately 650,000 barrels per day from the first half of this year.

The disruption is significant, as Sheskharis and the nearby Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal form one of the most important oil export hubs on the Black Sea. The two terminals are only a few miles apart and were already stressed due to the earlier drone attack that shut down CPC.

Kazakhstan has cut its oil production this week after CPC suspended tanker loadings, with output at Chevron's Tengiz field reportedly falling by more than half as storage filled and producers reduced pipeline flows. If Sheskharis remains idle, another major export outlet will disappear from an already stressed market.