Kazakh CPC crude loadings to continue as Russian court overturns suspension order on appeal

Loadings of Kazakh CPC Blend crude oil at the Russian port of Novorossiisk are set to continue after a court order suspending loadings was overturned on appeal, the press service of the court administration of Krasnodar region in southern Russia said July 11.

The ruling allays concern about renewed disruption to Kazakhstan's crude oil exports, which are mainly via the CPC route across southern Russia to the Russian Black Sea port, after a July 5 court ruling ordered a 30-day suspension of activity in an environmental case relating to a 2021 oil spill.

Loadings of CPC Blend, mainly derived from fields in landlocked Kazakhstan, can reach as high as 1.5 million b/d.

After "examining the materials and listening to the arguments put forward by the sides, the appeal court changed the district court order," the Krasnodar courts service said, adding the pipeline consortium would be subject to a fine of Rb200,000 ($3,270) rather than a suspension of operations.

The consortium had argued in its appeal that an abrupt, full shutdown of facilities risked damaging loading equipment, after news of the original ruling sent tremors through crude oil markets and prompted crisis talks among government officials in Kazakhstan.

CPC Blend was assessed by Platts at a $5.3/b discount to Dated Brent on July 8, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.

The operator of the Kashagan oil field, the North Caspian Operating Company, confirmed in a separate statement that deliveries of crude oil into "interconnected crude oil pipelines continue in accordance with plans."

Meanwhile Chevron, the lead partner at the Tengiz field, said: "Currently crude shipments via CPC and Tengizchevroil's [Tengiz] production operations remain uninterrupted."

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