Kazakhstan’s largest oilfields – Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak – are cuttingtheir combined daily oil output by 56% from Nov. 29 asa storm disrupts Black Sea crude shipping, the Kazakh energy ministry said on Tuesday.

The disruption is expected to lower Kazakhstan’s oil production by 631,700 metric tons this week, it said.

The ministry said it was unclear when the situation would normalise, although weather was expected to become calmer by Nov.30. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, through which Kazakhstan exports most of its crude, suspended oil loadings on Monday due to storms which continued on Tuesday.

Under the current plan, it said, output will fall even further by Dec. 3, with the Chevron-led CVX.N Tengiz field completely halting production and the country’s total output decreasing by 126,000 metric tons per day.

The ministry now sees November oil output, not including gas condensate, at 1.588 million barrels per day and December production at 1.673 million bpd, down from the previously planned 1.605 million and 1.599 million bpd respectively, but still above the 1.550 million bpd quota.

Exports through another pipeline, Atyrau-Samara, continue normally, the ministry said. It did not say how shipments via the Caspian Sea and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline – an alternative to the CPC route – could change.

Kazakhstan’s biggest oilfields are developed mostly by Western oil majors such as ExxonMobil XOM.N, Shell SHEL.L, Eni ENI.MI and TotalEnergies TTEF.PA.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Tamara Vaal, Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Louise Heavens)