Kazakhstan bans oil export to Russian port of Taman

Kazakhstan Railway is going to ban oil exports to the Russian port of Taman on the Black Sea starting from May 8, according to Reuters, citing the company and oil traders.

The railway company hasn’t revealed a reason behind this decision. So far the sea terminal continues to process oil products and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

On May 3, 2023, Russian Railways also restricted oil exports toward Taman. The move followed an official notification by the Russian authorities about a fire at a fuel deposit near the Crimean Bridge. That night, two drones attacked the oil base in the Temruksky district of the Krasnodar Krai (region). The fire covered 1,200 square meters of the base’s territory and it was assigned the highest level of danger.

The oil loading terminal in Taman, which lies across the Kerch Strait from Crimea, at the mouth of the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, has the capacity to handle 20 million tons of crude oil, oil products and LPG a year.

In 2022, the terminal exported 7.3 million tons of oil products from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In the first quarter of 2023, the port of Taman increased the export of oil products by 15% to 2.775 million tons over the same period last year.

In 2022, Kazakhstan exported more than one million tons of heating oil, 230,000 of LPG and 74,000 of vacuum gasoil. Three traders reported that Tamanheftegaz is still exporting oil products and LPG.

«Taman is still open. The export of oil products and LPG has been restored. There is no ban for exports from Kazakhstan until May 8,» a trader reported after the terminal operation was suspended because of the incident on May 3.

There is a big line of rail cars in the vicinity of the port but the trader said that the situation is going to stabilize by May 8.