Kazakh CPC crude loadings see 'significant' drop from 1.5 million b/d max: operator

Loadings of Kazakhstan's flagship CPC Blend crude, which can amount to 1.5 million b/d, have been significantly reduced due to disruptions including a repair at the connection point between the CPC pipeline and the largest source of the crude, the Tengiz field, the pipeline operator said Aug. 3.

The reduction, the latest in a series of disruptions to CPC supply in recent months, was not immediately confirmed by the upstream operators involved.

In a statement, the CPC consortium said repairs were taking place at the entry point at the "head" of the pipeline at Kazakhstan's Tengiz field and production had also been halted at the Kashagan field, the second-highest source for CPC crude.

"Due to a repair at the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan at the head section of the CPC pipeline system, reception of crude from the field is taking place at reduced volumes," the consortium said. "Also, due to a stoppage of production of crude at the Kashagan field, supply of crude into the pipeline is reduced."

"These factors have resulted in a significant reduction in the general volume of crude being pumped via the Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline," it said, adding the pipeline operator was cooperating with the producers on the situation.

The operator did not disclose the precise number of barrels lost due to the disruption, but CPC Blend exports normally fluctuate between 1.3 million b/d and 1.5 million b/d depending on loading programs.

CPC Blend was assessed at a $5/b discount to Dated Brent by Platts, a part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, on Aug. 2.

CPC Blend is loaded at the Russian port of Novorossiisk in the Black Sea, but is not subject to US or EU sanctions.