Kazakhstan considers alternative oil export routes amid CPC instability

Kazakhstan is considering the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, the Baku-Supsa route and transit across the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan as additional options for oil exports amid instability in the operation of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).

According to Report, the Kazakh Energy Ministry told Interfax-Kazakhstan that the alternative routes are being considered to ensure additional export capacity.

Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) plans to increase oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline by 31% in 2026 compared with 2025, reaching 1.7 million tonnes.

The volume of Kazakh oil transshipped through the port of Aktau toward the BTC pipeline amounted to 704,000 tonnes in January-June 2026.

The BTC pipeline is 1,768 kilometers long and has an annual capacity of more than 50 million tonnes of oil.

The project's shareholders are SOCAR with a 32.97% stake, Britain's BP plc with 30.1%, Hungary's MOL with 8.9%, Türkiye's TPAO with 6.53%, Italy's Eni and France's TotalEnergies with 5% each, Japan's Itochu with 3.4%, India's ONGC Videsh with 3.1%, and US-based ExxonMobil and Japan's INPEX with 2.5% each.