Ukraine Blackmails US and Europe Striking Kazakhstan Oil Logistics

The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck four tankers carrying Kazakh oil in Novorossiysk over the course of three days, ignoring a statement issued by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Photo: navy.mil by Andrew M. Meyers (US Navy), https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

The AbQaiq oil tanker at the Mina Al Bakr terminal.

In Kazakhstan, many welcomed the statement issued by the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to the latest incidents in the Black Sea—Ukrainian drone attacks on tankers operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The statement was published on the ministry's website following the first two attacks, on July 17 and July 19, targeting the tankers Nordic Zenith (July 17) and ASIA and NISSOS IOS (July 19), which were awaiting the loading of Kazakh crude at the offshore berthing facilities (OBF-1 and OBF-3) in the port of Novorossiysk.

The statement calls for "an end to aggression against Kazakhstan's economic interests." However, it does not identify the party responsible for the aggression, does not call on any specific state to halt its actions, contains no warning that bilateral relations could be reconsidered, and makes no reference to an appeal to the United Nations or international courts over the incidents.

More than 80 percent of Kazakhstan's oil exports from its largest fields—Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak—are transported through the CPC pipeline system to the export terminal near Novorossiysk. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium includes not only Russia and Kazakhstan, but also major Western energy companies, including the American corporations Chevron and ExxonMobil. In effect, Kyiv is striking not only tankers carrying crude owned by American and European investors, but also Kazakhstan's state budget, which stands to lose tax revenue generated by oil exports.

Ignoring Foreign Ministry's toothless statement, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched another strike on July 20, this time targeting the tanker NELSA. A drone strike reportedly ignited a fire aboard the vessel that took several hours to extinguish, while the crew had to be evacuated by tugboats. Unlike the previous tankers, which were empty, NELSA was in the process of loading cargo.

For Kyiv, strikes against the CPC are a tool of hard geopolitical blackmail directed at its own allies. Ukraine's logic, according to the article, is straightforward: if American corporations do not want to lose billions of dollars because tankers are burning near Novorossiysk, the White House should immediately provide Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems and long-range weapons to "close the skies." The strategy relies on the lobbying influence of Chevron and ExxonMobil in Washington.

Ukraine is simultaneously blackmailing Europe because Kazakh oil is shipped to European refineries—particularly in Italy, France and Spain—which have become heavily dependent on CPC Blend crude following the introduction of sanctions against Russia. Once again, Kyiv is sending Brussels a clear message: if Europe wants stable fuel supplies and calm at its filling stations, it must accelerate the transfer of air defense systems, aircraft and funding for their purchase from the United States. As a result, European countries have become hostages to their own geopolitical strategy: they finance Ukraine while their own energy security is being undermined by Ukrainian drone strikes near Novorossiysk.

The CPC described the attacks as "the fifth act of direct aggression against civilian infrastructure" and called on all consortium member states, including the United States and European countries, to develop practical measures to provide military protection for the export terminal. The consortium's management, the article argues, should stop relying on short-sighted Western politicians and Kazakhstan's multi-vector foreign policy, and instead take responsibility for its own security by joining forces with Chevron and ExxonMobil to finance anti-drone protection for its terminals and tankers. All the more so because the consortium has no long-term alternative routes for transporting oil from Kazakhstan.