Greek-run tanker carrying Russian crude attacked near Novorossiysk - Bloomberg
A Greek-run oil tanker carrying Russian crude was attacked in the Black Sea near Novorossiysk after loading at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Suezmax-class Skiros, which can carry about 1 million barrels of oil, was attacked on August 16 close to the terminal where it had loaded the cargo.
Although the CPC primarily handles oil from Kazakhstan, the cargo aboard the Skiros was of Russian origin, Bloomberg's sources said.
The Athens-based company managing the vessel said there were no injuries or oil pollution as a result of the incident. It declined to provide further details.
A spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told Bloomberg that he had “no data to comment on the issue.”
Bloomberg did not identify who carried out the attack or specify what weapon was used.
The incident was the first attack on a vessel calling at the CPC terminal following a lull of almost three weeks. Previous drone strikes disrupted loading at the terminal in July and forced Kazakh oil fields to reduce production.
The CPC is a major route for Kazakh crude exports, with cargoes shipped through the terminal recently accounting for almost 2% of global oil supplies.
Earlier in August, Ukraine agreed to refrain from targeting CPC infrastructure and non-Russian vessels heading to the terminal as long as they were not under Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian cargo, according to a US official cited by Bloomberg.
Russian crude typically accounts for about 5% to 10% of CPC exports.
The consortium is partly owned by US oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil, alongside Russia’s state pipeline company and Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company.
Following multiple attacks on tankers in July, the CPC considered suspending operations over environmental and safety concerns but ultimately decided to continue operating.