Two Black Sea tankers hit by drones after Kazakhstan oil output drops, managers say

MOSCOW/ATHENS/LONDON Jan 13 (Reuters) – Drones struck two oil tankers in the Black Sea on Tuesday, including one chartered by U.S. oil major Chevron, the companies involved said, as they sailed towards a terminal off the Russian coast.

Both were en route to the Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka terminal, the loading point for about 80% of Kazakh oil for the international market as well as some Russian crude, according to eight sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“All the crew are safe, and the vessel is stable. It is proceeding to a safe port, and we are coordinating with the vessel operator and the relevant authorities,” Chevron said of its chartered tanker.

The attacks have crippled output in Kazakhstan as U.S. oil companies dominate U.S. oil fields struggling to pipe crude through Russia in early January due to winter storms and Ukrainian drone attacks on infrastructure.

Kiev has been targeting Russian energy infrastructure to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. However, it was not immediately clear who was behind Tuesday’s tanker strike.

Ukraine’s government has not commented on the attack. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which operates the terminal where tankers would take on board cargo, declined to comment.

Shareholders in CPC’s ⁠1,500-km (930-mile) pipeline include Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil company KazMunayGas, Russia’s Lukoil and units of US oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Kazakh oil and gas production fell by 35 percent

The terminal at Yuzhnaya Ozereyev itself was attacked on November 29, when a Ukrainian drone struck one of CPC’s three main moorings at the facility near the port of Novorossiysk.

Oil and gas condensate production in Kazakhstan plunged 35% between January 1 and January 12 compared with the December average, a source familiar with the data told Reuters, with the decline mainly due to disruptions in exports through the terminal.

Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said on Tuesday that CPC continued to export oil through a mooring.

Tanker strikes drive up insurance costs

War insurance costs for ships sailing in the Black Sea nearly doubled on Tuesday after the attack, five industry sources said.

Russian terminals in the Black Sea handle more than 2% of global crude oil. Its waters, which are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, as well as Russia and Ukraine, are also important for the transportation of grain.

One of the tankers attacked on Tuesday, the Delta Harmony, is managed by Greece’s Delta Tankers, LSEG data showed. According to the source, TengizChevroil, a unit of US oil company Chevron, was expected to load Kazakh produced oil.

Delta Tankers later confirmed that the board was investigating a security incident aboard the Delta Harmony, which was hit by a missile at 0512 GMT while the ship was off the coast of Novorossiysk.

All crew were safe, the company said, adding that the short-lived fire was extinguished, and there were no reports of marine pollution.

After the attack, the ship moved out of the area under its own power.

Delta Tanker said a second vessel under its management, the Delta Supreme, was not affected, dismissing earlier indications from industry and trade sources that it had also been hit.

Another ship, Matilda, chartered by a subsidiary of KazMunayGas (KMG) and managed by Greece’s Thenamaris, was expected to load Kazakh oil from Karachaganak when it was hit, the sources added.

Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry confirmed the drone attack on Matilda and Delta Harmony on Tuesday evening.

A Thenamaris official said the Matilda was struck by two drones while it was waiting in ballast 30 miles (48 km) from the CPC’s mooring. KMG also confirmed the attack.

“There were no injuries and the ship sustained minor damage to deck structures as per initial assessment, which is fully repairable. The ship, being seaworthy, is now proceeding away from the area,” said a Thenamaris official.

Two maritime security sources said the Matilda caught fire and was quickly extinguished.

A fourth ship, the Freud, operated by Greece’s TMS, was also initially believed to have been attacked. But TMS later denied it was a hit.

(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow, Renee Maltejo and Yannis Soliotis in Athens and Jonathan Saul in London; Editing by Louise Havens, Jan Harvey, Guy Falconbridge and Joe Bavier)