(Bloomberg) — An oil tanker is moored at a loading buoy at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium that has been out of service for almost nine months, a sign the facility is resuming operations.
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Images from satellite-imaging company Planet Labs PBC show the vessel docked at Single Point Mooring 2 at the end of last week. SPM 2 is one of three such facilities at the CPC terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast. The terminal handles 80% of Kazakhstan’s crude exports.
The buoy had been out of service since the end of November after being significantly damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack. In May, CPC started a planned replacement of SPM 2, which had been scheduled long ago as it had been in operation since 2001.
The vessel — the first to dock at the mooring since end-November — could indicate that final tests are underway at SPM 2 before it resumes loading cargoes. A tanker is normally required to flush all the lines to a loading buoy before resuming operations.
CPC declined to comment on the development.
Operations at the CPC terminal have been closely watched following repeated disruptions last month as Ukraine and Russia intensified strikes against each other in the Black Sea. Multiple attacks on tankers calling at the terminal, which accounts for almost 2% of global oil supplies in normal times, have led to a significant drop in crude exports.
More than 70% of its cargoes are shipped to European refineries, which are already grappling with severely restricted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
Loading at the CPC oil terminal usually occurs at two moorings simultaneously, each with a capacity of 800,000 barrels per day. SPM 1, which has been in operations since 2001, is also set to be replaced this year.
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