A drone struck the tanker NELSA while it was loading crude at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) Black Sea export terminal on Monday, forcing the suspension of exports for the second time in less than 24 hours, regional media and company statements said.
The CPC said NELSA was moored at Single Point Mooring 1 (SPM-1) when a drone impacted the vessel's starboard aft section, igniting fires on deck and in spaces between the accommodation block and the engine room. Emergency teams extinguished the blaze within hours; the tanker remained afloat and officials reported no oil spill. No timetable for resuming loadings had been announced at the time of the report.
This was the second attack in under 24 hours. A drone strike on Sunday earlier forced CPC to pause crude loadings before operations resumed that evening. Company statements said tankers loading crude owned by Kazakh and U.S. shippers were targeted in the earlier incident.
Neither CPC nor Kazakh authorities identified the perpetrators of Monday's attack. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Energy condemned both incidents, describing them as "terrorist attacks" on civilian maritime infrastructure and on Kazakhstan's economic interests.
According to the Times of Central Asia, Chevron acknowledged reports about a vessel loading Tengiz crude at the CPC terminal but declined further comment.
Why This Matters
The 1,511-kilometer CPC pipeline carries more than two-thirds of Kazakhstan's crude exports — together with volumes from Russian Caspian fields — to the Black Sea terminal near Novorossiysk. The system handles roughly 1% of global oil supply and links major Kazakhstan fields (Tengiz, Kashagan, Karachaganak) to international markets.
Shareholders include major international energy companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, KazMunayGas, Lukoil, Rosneft, Shell and Eni, making the CPC one of the world's largest internationally owned crude export routes.
The latest strike follows several disruptions to CPC operations since the start of the war, including previous incidents that temporarily reduced Kazakhstan's crude shipments. Historically, the consortium has generally restored operations within days after such disruptions, but no timetable was provided after Monday's incident.
Official Response: Kazakhstan's foreign and energy ministries called the attacks terrorist acts against civilian maritime infrastructure and the country's economic interests. CPC and other stakeholders have so far not named suspects.
Report by Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
