Ukrainian forces have reportedly suspended drone attacks on oil tankers at the port of Novorossiysk following a request by U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported today, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials.
The request was prompted by concern that the drone attacks that shut down the Caspian Pipeline Consortium twice over the last two months were additionally destabilizing an already destabilized global oil market.
Ukraine has also targeted tankers docked at the port of Novorossiysk with drones.
The CPC operates the pipeline from the Caspian coast in northwest Kazakhstan to the Novorossiysk port, which handles most of Kazakhstan’s crude exports.
The drone attacks on the pipeline and the port caused a sharp drop in Kazakh oil production, with the daily total falling to just about 1 million barrels at the end of July, down from over 2 million barrels daily in June.
The administration views the CPC as a vital conduit of Kazakhstan-origin energy for European markets that serves as an alternative to Russian energy supplies.
