Kazakhstan Expands 2.2 Million-Tonne Azerbaijan Oil Route as CPC Disruptions Hit 80% Export Corridor
Updated
Updated · caspianpost.com · Aug 10
Kazakhstan Expands 2.2 Million-Tonne Azerbaijan Oil Route as CPC Disruptions Hit 80% Export Corridor
3 articles · Updated · caspianpost.com · Aug 10
Summary
Kazakhstan is accelerating use of the Aktau-Baku-Ceyhan corridor via Azerbaijan after Black Sea disruptions repeatedly interrupted CPC loadings, the route that carries more than 80% of its oil exports.
Drone attacks near Novorossiysk in July forced CPC suspensions, cutting Tengiz output to about 406,000 barrels a day from roughly 925,000 and exposing how quickly Kazakhstan must curb production when storage fills.
KazMunayGas says CPC still has no real economic or volume substitute, but a feasibility study is under way for the Atyrau-Aktau route and onward shipments through Azerbaijan, while China pipeline expansion is also being examined.
The Azerbaijan option is already growing: transit agreements cover 1.5 million tonnes a year, rising to 2.2 million; flows on the corridor climbed 34% in 2024 to 1.419 million tonnes, and 704,000 tonnes moved in first-half 2026.
A U.S.-brokered understanding under which Ukraine would avoid certain non-Russian tankers may ease short-term CPC risks, but Astana increasingly sees BTC as strategic backup rather than a marginal alternative.