Kazakhstan suspends oil supplies to Russia amid drone attacks

Kazakhstan has temporarily suspended the transport of crude oil to Russia via the Atyrau–Samara pipeline following a drone attack on the morning of 2 November.

Source: Kazakh Energy Ministry, as reported by Bloomberg

Quote: "Oil supplies via the route are expected to resume in the near future."

Details: The Atyrau–Samara pipeline, which runs to Russia's Volga region, is one of the main export routes for Kazakh crude oil. In the first nine months of this year, Kazakhstan transported 7.57 million tonnes of oil via this route, equivalent to just over 200,000 barrels per day.

Kazakhstan exports most of its oil through Russian infrastructure, which has repeatedly been targeted by Ukraine.

The country was previously forced to temporarily reduce its exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) marine terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast, also as a result of multiple drone attacks.

Bloomberg notes that the Samara station is a key hub in Russia's oil pipeline network, with storage capacity exceeding 1.6 million cubic metres. Oil flows from Western Siberia and Kazakhstan pass through the station.

Background: On the night of 30-31 October, drones attacked Ufa in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. A fire broke out at the Bashneft-Novoil oil refinery, where the catalytic reforming unit was believed to be on fire.

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