Starting May 1, Kazakhstan has been supplying crude oil to Germany via alternative routes. Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry told TASS, a Russian news agency, under what terms and conditions a return to the previous arrangement would be possible.
«At present, supplies of Kazakhstani crude oil to Germany via the Atyrau-Samara-Druzhba pipeline route have been temporarily suspended due to infrastructure-related technical limitations on the transit side. If these infrastructure limitations are removed, supplies may be resumed in accordance with the established procedure, subject to the relevant agreements between all interested parties,» the ministry said in response to the agency’s official inquiry.
Plans to suspend supplies via the Druzhba pipeline in May were announced in April 2026.At the time, Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said that the transit of Kazakhstani crude oil to the German city of Schwedt was not planned for May. According to him, Russian officials had informally stated that it lacked the technical capacity to pump oil via this route. Akkenzhenov noted that despite the increase in supplies, Kazakhstan met only 20-30% of the German refinery’s crude oil needs.
Following the suspension of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, Kazakhstan redirected part of its volumes through the Russian port of Ust-Luga and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The Energy Ministry noted that the suspension of one route would not affect production volumes, as the oil could be redistributed via other routes.
Kazakhstan began supplying oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline in 2023. In 2026, around 3 million tons of oil were planned for export via this route.
