About a third of Austria’s oil comes from Kazakhstan. But now Russia has closed a terminal in the Black Sea intended for the export of Kazakh oil. Recently, there were disagreements between Russia and Kazakhstan because of the war in Ukraine.
The operating company Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has to stop its oil exports to Europe due to a court decision – a large part of the raw material would have been destined for Austria. According to official information, the “documentation for the emergency plan for the elimination of possible oil spills is incomplete”, which is why Russia has closed the terminal for 30 days.
Austria’s largest oil supplier
Until recently, OMV produced its own oil in Kazakhstan through its Romanian subsidiary OMV Petrom. Despite the sale of the factories and oil fields last year, Kazakh crude oil still accounts for about a third of the amount of crude processed at the Schwechat refinery – the refinery’s capacity is about 9.6 million tons per year. year. The oil arrives via the port of Trieste and then by pipeline to Schwechat. The Schwechat refinery also processes oil from Libya, Iraq and Norway, among others. However, after an accident, the factory is currently shut down.
Separatist Republics Not Recognized
80 percent of the oil exported from Kazakhstan flows through the terminal in the southern Russian port of Novorossiysk – Kazakhstan does not have its own access to the world’s seas. The processing capacity is 67 million tons of oil per year. Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, recently offered the EU to supply more oil and gas to Europe to ensure the continent’s energy security, despite the war in Ukraine and associated sanctions against Russia. Kazakhstan has not recognized the independence of Moscow-backed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.
Stable supplies from the former Soviet Republic are of great importance for Austria’s oil supply. In 2020, 36.6 percent of all crude oil imports came from the resource-rich but poor country. In 2019 that was even 39.2 percent and in 2021 in October 38.1 percent. This makes Austria by far the most important oil supplier to Kazakhstan: 15 percent of crude oil imports come from Iraq and another 10 percent from Russia.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
