Kazakhstan has temporarily reduced oil production after loading operations at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium marine terminal were suspended, the Energy Ministry said on Thursday.
In a social media post on Telegram, the ministry said loading operations at the CPC Marine Terminal were temporarily halted to ensure the safety of vessels, crews and the environment in the Black Sea. The announcement follows several drone attacks in recent days.
All of the consortium's production and technical facilities remained operational and were ready to resume crude oil transshipment once conditions returned to normal, the ministry said.
Restrictions on oil intake into the pipeline system prompted oil producers to make a controlled adjustment to daily output to prevent storage facilities from becoming overstocked, the ministry said. It described the reduction as a temporary technical measure aimed at maintaining stable production processes.
The ministry said it remained in contact with CPC management, major shippers, ship owners and government agencies to develop measures to ensure safe navigation and a swift resumption of stable exports of Kazakh oil to global markets.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Kazakhstan's oil production had declined after the closure of the Black Sea terminal, the country's main crude export outlet, which was recently targeted by drone attacks.
The decline was particularly sharp at the Chevron-led Tengiz field, Kazakhstan's largest oilfield. One source said output there more than halved to about 406,000 barrels per day on Wednesday from an average of 925,000 bpd in July.
Kazakhstan's overall oil and gas condensate production fell to 1.63 million bpd on Wednesday from a July average of 2.07 million bpd.
The CPC pipeline, which handles more than 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports and nearly 2% of global oil supply, stopped receiving Kazakh crude after suspending loadings at its Russian Black Sea terminal.
Russia has accused Ukraine of targeting CPC tankers as part of an effort to "further destabilize the situation on global oil markets." Ukraine, which has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in recent months, has not commented on the attacks, Reuters said.