Ukraine has promised not to strike several non-Russian tankers or the internationally owned Black Sea pipeline terminal used to transport Kazakh crude oil to Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a US official familiar with the matter.
Both the United States and Kazakhstan have protested attacks on the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in the Russian port of Novorossiysk, where oil transported through the pipeline is loaded onto tankers. CPC shareholders include companies from Russia, Kazakhstan, Western Europe and the United States, such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell. CPC accounts for about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, according to Bloomberg.
Ukrainian drones first hit the terminal in February and continued their raids throughout the year, culminating in attacks last month that caused ships chartered by American companies to stop loading.
Under the agreement reportedly reached with the US, Ukraine promised to refrain from targeting CPC infrastructure and ships that are not on Ukraine's sanctions list and that are not carrying Russian goods.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth last month asked the White House to protect the company's operations in the region.
The attacks on shipping came as the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about a quarter of global seaborne oil and LNG trade, remains largely closed due to the US-Iran war, driving up prices. On July 25, Yemen's Houthi rebels, who control territory near another key shipping route in the Red Sea, declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia, further raising concerns about energy supplies.
The war in the Middle East has largely sidelined Trump's efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. In a diplomatic blow to Kiev, Trump recently reneged on his earlier promise to give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense missiles and rejected Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky's request for more interceptor missiles. The refusal came as U.S. ammunition stocks are said to be depleted by Trump's war with Iran.
