Kazakhstan to redirect 100,000 tonnes of oil to Ust-Luga, 160,000 tonnes to CPC in May due to Druzhba transit halt - Energy Ministry

ASTANA. April 28 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan will redirect 260,000 tonnes of oil to alternative export routes in May, to the port of Ust-Luga and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system, due to the suspension of transit via the Druzhba pipeline, said Asel Serikpayeva, a spokeswoman of the Kazakh Energy Ministry.

"In connection with adjustments to the May 2026 transit schedule via the Druzhba system toward Germany (the Schwedt refinery), the Energy Ministry announces the redistribution of export oil volumes in the amount of 260,000 tonnes," Serikpayeva told reporters on Tuesday.

"These volumes will be shipped via alternative, technically proven routes: 100,000 tonnes to the port of Ust-Luga and 160,000 tonnes through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium system," she said.

Serikpayeva added that the rerouting had been coordinated with shippers and was operational in nature.

"The changes in transportation routes will not affect the annual oil production plan. The existing transport infrastructure fully enables Kazakhstan to ensure export stability and uninterrupted supplies to global markets," she said.

Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said earlier that he had received information through unofficial channels that Russia would suspend transit of Kazakh oil via the Druzhba system toward Germany in May.

He said Kazakhstan had planned to ship about 3 million tonnes of oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline in 2026.

Kazakhstan doubled its oil shipments to Germany in the first quarter of 2026 to 730,000 tonnes. In 2025, supplies of Kazakh oil to Germany's Schwedt refinery totaled 2.1 million tonnes.

Since 2023, Kazakhstan has been exporting oil to Germany through Transneft's pipeline system, delivering it to Adamowo-Zastawa, an oil delivery point in Poland near the Belarussian border.