Kazakhstan has resumed oil loading at its Black Sea export terminal after a week-long suspension following drone strikes on tankers, the Energy Ministry said on Monday. Production had plunged to roughly 1 million barrels per day from 2.16 million in June during the shutdown of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium facility, putting more than 80 percent of the country's oil exports at risk.
The disruption prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to propose freezing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and returning to the "Istanbul formula 2.0" framework. Downstream buyers faced immediate pressure: Romania, which sources over 60 percent of its crude from Kazakhstan, warned of a drop in gasoline production of up to 15 percent if shipments did not restart, interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said. Austria, meanwhile, has already seen its Kazakh crude import share fall from 55 to 45 percent, shifting volumes toward the United States and Guyana.