Kazakhstan has approached Russia with a request to resume the transit of Kazakh oil via the Druzhba pipeline to the German oil refinery in Schwedt, in which Russia’s Rosneft historically held a controlling stake and supplied crude oil, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said.
«I personally delivered an official request in a face-to-face meeting, and the request has been conveyed. The Kazakhstani side is waiting for a response from the Russian side on resuming operations,» he told reporters in response to their questions.
He said there was a technical possibility of resuming Kazakh oil exports through Russia to Germany. Akkenzhenov couldn’t immediately say when Russia might respond, suggesting that they simply wait for a response.
He added that the forecast for oil production in 2026 remained unchanged at 96 million tons and that Kazakhstan planned to produce 99 million tons in 2027. In 2025, the country produced 99.4 million tons of oil and gas condensate.
«For now, we are on track to meet the announced target of 96 million [tons of oil in 2026]. For next year, we are still determining the volume. I think around 99 million tons will be envisaged,» Akkenzhenov said.
He previously said that Kazakhstan would not supply oil to Germany’s Schwedt refinery via the Druzhba pipeline in May.
According to Akkenzhenov, Russia unofficially cited the suspension of transit via the Druzhba pipeline from May 1, referring to drone strikes on Russian infrastructure.
A total of around 3 million tons of oil was planned to be supplied to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline in 2026, up from the previously expected annual volume of 2.5 million tons. In the first quarter of 2026, supplies amounted to around 730,000 tons, twice as much as in the same period of 2025. For comparison, a total of 2.1 million tons of Kazakh oil was supplied via this route in 2025.
Akkenzhenov noted in May that, despite the increase in supplies, Kazakhstan covered only around 20%-30% of Germany’s refinery demand for oil. He said that no official statement on the suspension of Kazakh oil transit to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline had been made at the time.
Kazakhstan began supplying oil via the Druzhba pipeline in 2023. The Schwedt refinery in Germany had historically received Russian oil, but Germany had previously imposed restrictions on supplies of Russian crude from Rosneft, the refinery’s majority owner. Kazakh oil has technical characteristics similar to those of Russian crude oil. However, following the introduction of the relevant EU restrictions, Russian oil continued to be supplied to Hungary via another branch of the Druzhba pipeline through the beginning of 2026.
