Russia Closes Key Kazakhstani Oil Pipeline To EU

According to Deutsche Welle, Russia has halted the transit of Kazakhstani oil to the EU via the CPC pipeline by closing access to Russia's largest Black Sea port, Novorossiysk.

• The CPC pipeline had operated without issues for decades but has come under repeated complications since Kazakhstani president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke against the Russian backed separatist states in Ukraine at a conference in Moscow, and promised EU council president Charles Michel to assist with the EU oil crisis.
• DW writes: "On March 22, two loading buoys were allegedly damaged during a storm, taking the entire terminal out of operation for several weeks...[but]… there wasn't a "heavy storm" in the region, citing German Weather Service data."
• DW continues: "In June, a routine seabed survey suddenly revealed a World War II mine that forced suspension of loading from two of the three buoys. The search for "explosive devices" was extended ten days, until July 15."
• Mikhail Krutikhin of RusEnergy says the court's order to shut down the CPC pipeline was "clearly politically motivated."
• Krutikhin says President Tokayev "made the statement with the intention of helping the EU overcome its energy problems as a result of the imminent EU oil embargo against Russia and the current throttling of Russian gas supplies to Europe."
• Leyla Alieva, Eastern Europof Oxford University says the move was "generally a reaction to Kazakh attempts at becoming politically more independent of Moscow."

Figure 1: CPC Pipeline (DW)