Kazakhstan Buyers Seek Maximum Oil Volumes Amid Hormuz Restrictions as Country Faces Production Constraints and OPEC+ Quota Shortfalls

Customers buying oil from Kazakhstan are urging the OPEC+ producer to ramp up crude supply and deliver the maximum available volumes, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said on Wednesday. “In light of restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, our partners are asking us to increase supplies,” Reuters quoted Akkenzhenov as telling reporters in Astana.

” Kazakhstan has not complied with its OPEC+ production quota in recent years but has vowed continued participation in the group.

The country has faced several operational challenges this year. Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field was forced to shut down in January after a fire damaged critical power supply. The pace of the ramp-up slowed further due to severe storms at the Black Sea terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which handles most of Kazakhstan’s crude exports.

To meet demand for oil that does not move through the Strait of Hormuz, Kazakhstan plans to use spare capacity on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to export from the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. “BTC already exists, and it would not be logical not to use it. Today, BTC is one of the key routes for Kazakhstan,” Akkenzhenov said earlier this month.

Supply will increase further this summer after the North Caspian Operating Company, operator of the Kashagan oilfield, announced last week that planned maintenance would be delayed by one year to 2027. com reported the statements and operational details.