Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield is seeing a slower-than-expected production recovery. The disruption stems from issues at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) marine terminal near Novorossiysk, Russia, caused by adverse weather and drone alerts.
This setback compounds challenges for Kazakhstan's oil sector, which has already been impacted by Ukrainian drone attacks on the CPC, responsible for 80% of the nation's oil exports. Power outages previously halted production at Tengiz, a field that accounts for 40% of Kazakhstan's total output.
While production at Tengiz has increased, it remains below planned levels. Sources indicate that oil intake into the CPC system is restricted due to delays in tanker loading at the Black Sea terminal. This has led to insufficient tank storage and limited oil intake, impacting the overall output schedule.
The CPC terminal has experienced closures and disruptions due to weather and drone threat alerts, affecting tanker operations and inspections. These export instabilities have widened discounts for Kazakh crude against dated Brent.
Kazakhstan's Tengizchevroil (TCO), led by Chevron, is progressively increasing output as conditions permit, but the complex interplay of infrastructure challenges and geopolitical factors continues to temper recovery efforts.