Kazakhstan expects CPC pipeline to resume full operation in October

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is expected to resume full operations in October, Kazakh Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov said.

"As is known, one of the CPC's three SPMs [single point moorings] is currently working. Due to repair work at Kashagan, the operation of one CPC SPM is sufficient for current volumes. Full-fledged operation of the CPC is expected in October of this year," Achkulakov said at a government meeting on Tuesday.

He also said that oil exports totaled 46.8 million tonnes in the first nine months of 2022, which amounted to 96% of the figure in the same period of last year.

The CPC suspended the operation of SPM-1 and SPM-2 due to damage to their buoyancy tanks. Given full readiness to conduct the work and suitable weather, replacement of each tank will take a month, the CPC said.

The CPC, which runs through Russian territory, is the main export route for Kazakh oil, which accounts for more than 80% of the oil transported by the pipeline.

The pipeline operated without interruption for more than 20 years, but in the past year the system has constantly run into problems with restrictions on transport due to various external factors, including an oil spill in August 2021, storm damage to SPMs in March 2022 and inspections of terminal waters fur explosives. The latter did not affect the fulfillment of CPC's delivery schedule.