Kazakhstan Reopens Black Sea Terminal After Week-Long Halt

Kazakhstan's Black Sea crude export terminal near Novorossiysk reopened on July 27, ending a roughly week-long halt that had cut the country's oil output nearly in half. The terminal restart came after Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry officially confirmed that it had started accepting crude and loading tankers again.

The two Chevron-chartered tankers, Seamajesty and Milos, took on Tengizchevroil crude at the terminal's offshore moorings, marking the first loadings since the shutdown began. The reopening ended roughly a week of downtime, with pipeline operations restored around midday Moscow time on July 27.

The closure traced back to Ukrainian drone strikes that hit tankers and terminal infrastructure between July 17 and July 20, part of the broader Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has increasingly targeted energy infrastructure and shipping routes in and around the Black Sea. No casualties or oil spills were reported from any of the incidents.

Kazakhstan cut oil output by roughly half during the halt, with production falling from approximately 2 million barrels per day to roughly 1 million barrels per day, the biggest impact felt at the Tengiz field, one of Kazakhstan's largest and most productive. The disruption underscored the country's heavy reliance on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium route, which carries more than 80% of its crude exports.