The Kazakh government opted to expand supply via alternate channels, through Azerbaijan, and to China, in response to the constant suspension of oil exports through Novorossiysk.
On July 7, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, held a meeting on the development of transport and transit potential and declared the need for diversification of oil supplies.
"The priority direction is the Transcaspian route. I instruct KazMunayGas to work out the optimal option for its implementation, including the possibility of attracting investors to the Tengiz project. The government, together with Samruk-Kazynaya, should take measures to increase the capacity of oil pipelines Atyrau-Kenkiyak and Kenkiyak-Kumkol," said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Judging by the statement of the President of Kazakhstan, the authorities want to supply more oil to China and actively use transit through Azerbaijan to deliver oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Until recently, the main route for the supply of Kazakh oil was the oil pipeline of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (KTC) to Novorossiysk, where raw materials are loaded onto tankers. Its capacity is 67 million tons per year, and 87% of supplies were raw materials mined in Kazakhstan last year. This year, CTC is constantly facing problems. In the beginning, it was stopped due to the breakdown of marine loading systems. On July 5, the Russian court suspended the activities of the CTC for 30 days due to several documentary violations regarding the plan for liquidating emergency oil spills.
