Third CPC Terminal Shutdown in July: How Ukraine's Drone Campaign Against Kazakh Oil Exports Is Forging Conflict With Washington

On July 30, 2026, at 1:48 AM Moscow time, Ukrainian drones struck two tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) marine terminal outside the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Nissos Sifnos, loaded with crude from Chevron's Tengizchevroil venture, was hit at single-point mooring No. 3 and caught fire. A second vessel, the Isle of Man-flagged Marathi, was also struck nearby . No casualties or oil spills were reported, but the terminal immediately suspended all crude tanker loadings — the third suspension of the month .

The attack capped a devastating July for Kazakhstan's oil export lifeline. The CPC terminal handles roughly 80% of Kazakhstan's seaborne crude, carrying over 1% of global oil supply . By July 23, the cumulative disruptions had forced Kazakhstan to slash output. Production at the Chevron-led Tengiz field — the country's largest — , to around 400,000 barrels per day, according to two industry sources . The Kazakh energy ministry confirmed oil firms had to adjust daily output because storage tanks at the export bottleneck had reached capacity after CPC stopped accepting incoming crude .