Russia stops transit of oil from Kazakhstan to Europe

A Russian court has closed an important oil export terminal for the transfer of crude from Kazakhstan to Europe.

According to European Pravda, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), by decision of the Primorsky District Court of Novorossiysk, will suspend the operation of the marine terminal for 30 days.

The reason for the decision was the violations allegedly identified by Rostransnadzor during the assessment of the technical condition of hazardous production facilities and compliance with environmental requirements during their operation.

The CPC is the main export route for Kazakh oil, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the volumes pumped through the pipeline. The capacity of the pipeline is 67 million tons of oil per year.

Kazakhstan has large oil reserves, but has no access to the sea, except for the Caspian. Oil is exported from Kazakhstan through a terminal in Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, disagreements have recently surfaced between Russia and Kazakhstan because of the war in Ukraine. In particular, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that he was unlikely to recognize the independence of the so-called "Donetsk People’s Republic” and "Luhansk People’s Republic".