Kazakhstan has suspended oil transit through the Atyrau-Samara pipeline after a drone attack hit the Samara dispatch hub in Russia overnight, Kazakhstan's...
Kazakhstan has suspended oil transit through the Atyrau-Samara pipeline after a drone attack hit the Samara dispatch hub in Russia overnight, Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said.
Ministry spokeswoman Asel Serikpaeva said the Samara production and dispatch unit came under drone attack overnight on Monday and its technical condition is now being assessed. Intake of oil on the route will resume soon, she said, without giving a date.
The hub matters because it is one of Europe's largest oil storage sites, with 71 tanks holding more than 1.6 million cubic metres, and it takes in crude from Kazakhstan alongside Russian regions before routing it onward. It has been hit repeatedly in October, and this is the fifth reported strike on the site.
For Kazakhstan, the suspension is a reminder of how exposed its main western export route is: a war fought hundreds of kilometres away can shut a Kazakh revenue line overnight, which is exactly why Astana keeps pushing Caspian and Middle Corridor alternatives.
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