Drone strike on pipeline could cut Kazakhstan oil exports by 30%, operator says

Kazakhstan's oil exports could be cut by 30% for up to two months via its main pipeline due to damage from a Ukrainian drone attack, Russia's state pipeline operator said on Tuesday.

Monday's attack occurred a day before U.S. and Russian officials met in Riyadh for their first talks on ending the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv and its European allies watched anxiously from the sidelines.

At least seven drones packed with explosives and shrapnel attacked the Kropotkinskaya station on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline in Russia's Krasnodar region causing "serious damage", pipeline operator Transneft said.

The route via Russia carries oil to world markets from Kazakhstan, where it is pumped by a group of global firms including U.S. majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil.

Kazakhstan produces about 1% of global oil supply.

"According to CPC experts, the consequences of this strike will be eliminated within 1.5 to 2 months, which may lead to a decrease in oil pumping from Kazakhstan by about 30%," Transneft said.

A cut of 30% could amount to as much as 380,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters calculations.

Benchmark oil prices rose by nearly 1% before turning lower on Tuesday above $75 per barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on oil producers to help lower prices, arguing that prices of $80 per barrel were too high for consumers.

Russia said the strike on the pipeline's largest pumping station in the country was a brazen and provocative attack.

"A blow to an oil consortium could stop oil pumping, unbalance the market, increase oil price spikes and cause direct damage to American companies," said Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council.

Medvedev said the attack on a pipeline partly owned by U.S. companies was a blow against Trump, who has sought to lower oil prices and that it remained to be seen what Trump would do about it.

Other CPC stakeholders include the Russian state, Russian firm Lukoil, and Kazakh state company KazMunayGas.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said that it had attacked the fuel and energy infrastructure of Russia, including the CPC pumping station and the nearby Ilsky oil refinery.

"The Defence Forces of Ukraine reserve the right to strike strategic facilities that support Russia’s armed aggression. Operations aimed at dismantling the energy infrastructure fuelling Russia’s illegal war will continue," it said.

Russia launched a large-scale attack overnight involving 176 drones in the regions of Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Cherkasy, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.

STILL PUMPING

"The CPC oil pipeline continues to operate," CPC said in a statement, adding that specialists had given a damage assessment on the Kropotkinskaya station. It did not say who was behind the drone attack.

It said the pipeline was still pumping oil to awaiting tankers on the Black Sea, though at reduced levels, while bypassing the damaged station.

"Oil is being received from shippers according to the specified technical pumping capabilities," CPC said.

The 1,500 km (939 mile) pipeline exported 63 million metric tons of CPC Blend crude in 2024.

It is pumped from Kazakhstan's vast Tengiz oilfield on the northeastern shores of the Caspian Sea as well as from Russian producers.