The United States has obtained Ukraine's consent not to strike tankers not linked to Russia and the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in the Black Sea, used for exporting Kazakh oil, Bloomberg reports, citing an American official.
"During the agreement reached by the US, Ukraine committed to refrain from attacks on the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and vessels not related to Russia heading to the terminal, provided that these ships are not under Ukrainian sanctions and do not carry Russian cargo," the publication says.
As the agency clarifies, Kyiv agreed to these limits after negotiations with senior US leadership amid recent drone attacks in the Novorossiysk area, which led to disruptions in loading and an increase in global oil product prices.
At the same time, to ensure safe passage, Ukraine allegedly demanded a number of conditions from shipowners: tankers cannot belong to Russian individuals or legal entities, they cannot carry Russian oil, and the vessels themselves cannot be under Kyiv's sanctions. Special communication channels have already been created for information exchange and security coordination with commercial carriers, the article claims.
The CPC pipeline system, with a total capacity of 83 million tons per year, is the largest route for transporting fuel from the Caspian region to world markets and the main one for Kazakhstan. The 1,500-kilometer pipeline connects fields in western Kazakhstan with the Black Sea coast, where oil is loaded onto tankers via a marine terminal.
Among the largest shareholders are Russia (via Transneft), Kazakhstan (via KazMunayGas), structures of Lukoil, the Rosneft joint venture, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell.
In recent months, CPC has repeatedly reported Ukrainian attacks on its vessels in the Black Sea, and oil loading had to be suspended. At the end of July, The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington warned Kyiv about the illegality of attacks on ships and oil infrastructure in the Black Sea.
Source: RIA Novosti